


Maka the Angel- Everything in my life is going to hell!

by BiggestPranksterGangsterOfAllTime



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Angel & Demon Interactions, Angst, Blackstar has a crush on death boi, Blood, Character Deaths, Multi, There's cute stuff too I swear, Violence, bruh nonone even reads the tags I could put anything, cursing, heavy stuff, possible SoMa, pumped up Kicks warning, rectangles - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-04-04 21:36:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14029242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiggestPranksterGangsterOfAllTime/pseuds/BiggestPranksterGangsterOfAllTime
Summary: Maka Albarn is an angel from heaven- however, it's not as it's cracked up to be. Heaven is ruled like a dictatorship- and she's been kicked out.Hiding in plain sight among humans who may not even be human, she, Blackstar, and Kid all have to try to salvage their lives- Which have all gone to hell!Angel/Demon au of Soul eater. Cursing, violence, and heavy stuff ahead.





	1. Maka's Last Soul-?

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic- and it's a soul eater fic in 2018. Go, me. Anyway, enjoy. Reviews/comments/criticism are encouraged
> 
>  
> 
> (Aka: If I fuck Up, please tell me.)

Maka was always one to be nice to people. She was polite, respectful, and always tried to hear people out- though occasionally, Maka got pissed off. Maka also tends to be _extremely_ vulgar and disrespectful when she is pissed off.

In hindsight, Maka probably shouldn't have gone to confront to the Council of God. Her reasoning to do so being she thought all the oppressive rules, watching eyes of the Discipline Force and the mind-numbingly precise schedules were, in her own words;

"-repressive, unnecessary and FUCKING ANNOYING!"

Maka panted, just finishing a long-winded speech about how she _despised_ the current state of heaven. It was already illegal to simply raise one's voice at a member of the Council of God, and the copious amounts of "fuck"s, "shit"s, and "asshole"s definitely _did not_ help Maka's case. Her wings were straight out in anger, her all-white eyes burning with rage.

Their faces- or rather, lack thereof, for none of them actually had faces, only blank curves that barely ghost features onto them- stared blankly at her. Every single member remained silent for minutes on end. Slowly, the leftmost member spoke.

In a hauntingly wispy tone, they breathed out, " _Banish her_."

The member next to them yelled suddenly, "No, _execute_ her!"

The rightmost slammed their hands on the desk in front of all of the members. "You have disrespected God, Heaven, and us!" They screeched.

The members broke out in arguments about her imminent punishment, as Maka stood motionless, the full weight of what she had done crashing on her like the unyielding waves of Earth's ocean. None of the members could seem to come to any agreements. She was lucky the majority wasn't screaming for her death.

The middlemost member raised their hand flatly palm exposed. " _Silence_." they demanded. "We shall meet in the middle," They told the other members, who all nodded. "Angel Maka Albarn, for breaking Law 4A, Law 5A, Law 7A, and our most important law, 1A, you are hereby banished to Earth. You will be given a permanent glamour, and can never return unless you collect 99 human souls to send to heaven, and one demon soul to send to death. If you make the slightest mistake, you will stay on Earth for even more. Get out of our sight, traitor."

Maka opened her mouth to protest, to apologize, _something_ , but before she knew it, the shimmering clouds beneath her feet gave way, and she fell, down, down, down, towards earth.

Her wings didn't slow her one bit.

* * *

  
Maka sighed, looking up at the ceiling of her room in her tiny two-bedroom apartment. She replayed that day in her head every morning for the five long years she's been banished on earth. Her only real comfort was that she was close. She currently had 99 human souls stored. No demon souls. She was so close. All she needed was that one demon soul.

She fiddled with the small, silver cross that hung around her neck on an equally shining chain. There waited the 99 souls she was to bring to heaven to be treated to eternal "paradise."

In truth, human souls that reached heaven weren't treated to much at all. They were simple released in a marked-off section of heaven and left to rest. It was the same in hell, as she heard. The only difference between the two is that souls in heaven believe they are good, and rest in peace, while souls in hell believe they are evil, so they cause their own suffering. Not that souls are conscious beings, but they seem to somehow know when they are in heaven or hell. Maka wondered if the souls resting in her necklace were alright.

She had woken up with it on Earth, along with a tattoo on the back of her neck, depicting two angel wings and a halo with a jarring red "X" through them. The tattoo acted as her glamour, keeping her in her human disguise, and honestly, she wished she had gotten an earring or a ring or something instead to act as her glamour. She felt a jolt in her heart whenever she thought about the tattoo. The Council most likely chose that design to show off how much of a traitor she was to the whole world. Or perhaps spite. Her human form wasn't _bad_ , per say, but Maka couldn't blame herself for wanting her previous glory as an angel back. She still was a bit surprised when she saw herself in the mirror.

She had pale blonde hair that she kept down to cover her glamour. She used to pull her hair into twin ponytails in heaven, but nowadays, she only did that in the safety of her apartment. Her roommate Soul already knew about her tattoo by now, having lived with him for about a year now. Her eyes were a forest green and round, almost innocent. She was fairly good-looking, she had to admit, in a more cute than pretty or sexy way. She was relatively thin, with a healthy balance between tan and pale skin. She was fine with this form, and it even resembled her as an angel a bit, but... she truly missed the glowing freckles that sprinkled her entire body in excess, her pure white eyes that matched her bright, soft wings, and the constant faint glow above her head from her halo. They made her feel...complete.

Her phone chirped almost too pleasantly, and she groggily grabbed it and turned her alarm off. She could hear her roommate shuffling around the kitchen. She slowly rose, pushing aside her musings of heaven, yawning as she left her room and saw her roommate making breakfast, probably only for himself.

Soul was cooking bacon for the fifth time this week, his snow white hair tied into a small ponytail. He glanced over at her. "Morning."

"Morning," she yawned, plopping down into a chair at her dining table. "Bacon again?" She asked, smiling gently.

Soul nodded and grinned, flashing teeth that were sharper than was probably normal for humans. But Maka knew for a fact he was indeed human, so she tried not to worry about it.

"Yeah, it's good any day of the week. Plus, with Blackstar here, we need all  
the food we can get."

Soul jerked his head towards the sleeping boy on their couch, artificially dyed blue hair messy, and even a chunk of hair was stuck in his mouth. His real name was Blackwell, but he utterly hated that name and instead went by Blackstar or occasionally Blake, if he needed a more believable name. He usually said Blake was his real name anyway. He had stayed the night with Soul, and Maka stuck to her room the whole night to avoid _that_ ordeal. The tan and muscular boy snored loudly.

Maka simply nodded, checking her phone as Soul laid a paper plate on the table in front of her, and another at his usual seat. She politely and slowly nibbled on her food. In all technicality, she didn't need food. Her internal organs were still that of an angel's, but she all but had to, lest people be suspicious or worried.

Soul placed the third plate of bacon on the small side table beside their couch, and as if on cue, Blackstar stirred and sat up.

"Jeez, I shoulda known food was what would wake you up."

Blackstar grinned. "Can you blame me? Your bacon is bomb as hell." He yawned loudly, stretching out his arms.

"Thank you, thank you very much." Soul drawled, doing an awful impersonation of Elvis Presley.

Blackstar lazily picked up the plate of food and practically inhaled the food.

Soul chuckled, shutting his blood-red eyes. His eyes. Again, they were something Maka tried to ignore about her human friend, especially since red eyes were associated with demons. Thinking about demons for longer than she had to was...uncomfortable to say the least. She shook her head and instead focused on the rest of her breakfast.

 

* * *

  
Soul, Blackstar, and Maka had all went out get coffee at Marie's, their friend Tsubaki joining them on the way. They waited in line and were met with a cheerful face at the counter. The blonde behind the counter waved intensely, smiling widely.

"Hi guys!" Patty chirped, bright blue eyes sparkling with glee. "Four usuals?"

They all nodded, and Patty happily skipped off to fetch their orders. She gracefully and skillfully whips up their coffees and snatches bagels from the display, setting everything down on the counter.

"Separate or together?" She asked, punching the values of the items into the nearby cash register.

"Bundle me and Maka together, and Blackstar and Tsubaki are payin' for themselves." Soul jabbed his thumb towards Tsubaki and Blackstar. "Maka's a cheapskate, so I'm paying."

Maka shot a glare at him, huffing. "I am not cheap, Soul."

"That's exactly what a cheap person would say!" Blackstar proclaimed strongly, pointing his finger to her face.

Patty laughed, while Tsubaki let out a small giggle.

Maka pretended to be fuming playfully, while watching her friends pay for their coffee and bagels. Well, Blackstar pay for his bagels. Both bagels were for him. Soul handed Maka her usual white chocolate mocha. She took it and slowly sipped, enjoying the taste. Being forced to eat did have it's benefits at times. Her friends all happily walked over to their usual table, all taking a seat with Maka and sipping their own drinks. Patty tipped her uniform's hat as they walked away.

"So what's Liz up to, I haven't seen her in a while." Blackstar breifly took a break from devouring his bagel, looking up at Tsubaki. "You stayed at her house last night, right?"

Tsubaki nodded. "She said she was going to meet a friend after she dropped me off at home. I don't know who it was or where though."

"Patty might know," Maka offered.

"Yeah, I texted her though on the way here and she said she didn't know. Liz still owes me ten bucks for the high school B-Ball game thing."

Maka rolled her eyes. "You don't even go to high school anymore, and you're still betting on those dumb games? You literally dropped out not even a year ago."

"Hell yeah! It's tradition, Maka. You wouldn't understand, you're too busy reading books all the time or whatever."

Soul nodded in agreement while Tsubaki frowned in disapproval.

"Blackstar," she scolded. "Let her enjoy what she pleases."

"I am! I'm just saying, it wouldn't kill her to do some exercises now and again. Though, she could never really catch up to me!" Blackstar flexed proudly, grinning his trademark cocky grin.

"I doubt she wants to end up like you," Soul teased.

"Now that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! OF COURSE she does!! Anyone would want to be as great as I am!" He boomed with self-aggrandizing laughter.

Tsubaki placed her face into her hand.

The banter went on until they all parted ways, Blackstar and Tsubaki walking back to their shared home together with parting waves. Soul and Maka paced back to their own home, Maka staying behind Soul at a small distance.

She froze when she felt a twang of electricity-like awareness jet through her chest, dissipating into her limbs.

There was definitely a demon nearby. The demon's magic alone was enough to trigger her senses into overdrive. She exhaled shakily, fists automatically clenching.

"Hey, Soul?" Said Maka, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice.

Soul spun around lazily. "Yeah?"

"Can you go ahead without me, I think I left something at the shop..."

"I can just go with you, what'd you lose?" He turned to walk towards her, eyebrow raised.

"No! I mean...no, that's really okay! I can get it myself. Go on ahead." She turned and started nervously shuffling away.

Soul watched her for a moment before shrugging and turning back around unsurely, walking in the opposite direction.

Maka sprinted to a nearby alleyway, everything in her body screaming;

**_"Here! The demon is here!"_ **

She skidded to a halt when she saw someone standing there. She took a tentative step forward, inspecting them with narrowed eyes.

A curvy woman in a short, frilly black dress, long, purple boots, and shockingly purple hair turned to face her. Her face was slightly obscured by her black sunhat, a purple ribbon tied in a bow as a band.

"Oh?" The woman purred, voice smooth and almost seductive. "Who's this little popinjay?" She turned around to face Maka, her yellow eyes gleaming. Her pupils were slits, almost like a cat's eyes. Maka now noticed the choker around her neck with a shining silver bell attached to it.

Maka got into a strong stance, throwing her arm up and pointing at her. "Who are you? Identify yourself, demon!"

"Demon...?" The woman breathed quietly, almost seeming offended. She then smirked, and thin, sharp fangs unsheathed from her lips.

"Why, I'm Blair, little popinjay~"

Maka glared, bringing her hand to the necklace across her neck, wrapping her fist around it.

"Demon Blair, as an angel of heaven I hereby challenge you to a duel to the death! In the name of God himself, I will strike you down!" Maka then snapped the charm of her necklace off of its chain. " _Glamour release_!"

Upon shouting the keyword, her necklace burst into a white light, bursting into a long streak of brightness, forming a white metallic pole. Maka grabbed it as the end forged into a long, curved blade.

Maka gave her newly formed weapon an intimidating slash, face stoic. She then silently released her bodily glamour, revealing her shockingly pure wings and her halo summoning over her head. A few white freckles sprinkled her skin. Her eyes remained green, and her skin was still similar to a human's, for she couldn't expend the energy to fully go into her angel form without truly needing to.

Blair seemed astonished. "Wow, you really are an angel!" She sung, lifting her hands, dark magic swirling around her painted purple nails.

"That scythe is what I really have my eyes on, though! Give Blair your scythe!"

The magic swirling the woman's hands suddenly burst forward, faster than Maka could react, and they exploded on impact with her body. Maka was thrown back with a shout of surprise, gritting her teeth at the burns on her shoulder and waist. They would heal in a few hours, but for now, they stung painfully.

Blair giggled, preparing another attack. Maka shot forward, swinging her scythe at blade at the demon woman, and by a clever dodge from Blair, missed. She then jumped up and slashed the opposite direction, gritting her teeth.

Blair jumped back, barely missing the attack, still grinning. She leaned down, arms extended as the ribbon from her sunhat snaked out on her command, grabbing Maka's ankle and lifting her into the air. Maka attempted to cut the ribbon, but she was slammed against the concrete before she possibly could have reached it. Her body exploded with pain, wind being knocked out of her lungs. She lay crumpled on the ground, her weak hand barely able to keep grip of her weapon. She gripped it tightly anyway, forcing herself up. She moved her hands down to her hips her scythe spinning mid-air in front of her, halo-like circle blades summoning. She gripped them and slung them smoothly at Blair.

Blair jumped up, floating for a few moments, halos missing and embedding themselves in a nearby wall.

Maka growled and snatched her scythe back, glaring daggers at the woman. Blair simply looked at her nails without a care in the world. Maka decided she had no choice, and wordlessly commanded the rest of her glamour to release.

She was engulfed in white light, her wings gaining significant wingspan. Her eyes became a striking white. Sparkling freckles covered her skin, and her hair flew in a violent, invisible wind. She pulled her scythe back powerfully, ready to deliver a killer blow. Maka swung, a the air whisking around the blade due to the speed. Maka aimed right at Blair's neck.

Blair's grin faltered, and she cried out.

Maka looked up, smirking as she felt her scythe slide though something.

It fell quickly.

Blair was sitting on a nearby dumpster, the only thing actually cut being a second dumpster suspended in the air by her magic. Before Maka could blink, both pieces were flung in her direction, slamming into her body and sending her painfully to the ground. She cried out, feeling something in her side crack while she was hit in the head with one of the pieces, and all Maka could see was stars. She lay in a heap on the ground.

"For an angel of God, you aren't all that great," Blair taunted, hopping down from her seat on the dumpster. "All I want is that cool scythe, why don't you give it up and then Blair won't have to kill you~"

Maka slowly rose.

Looking at the ground in utter shame, she slowly made her way to Blair. She held out her scythe, her bangs obscuring her eyes.

"Yay!! Good little girl!" Blair exclaimed joyfully, grabbing the handle of the scythe.

As soon as she did, Maka put all her strength into swinging the scyth, letting out a scream of determination.

She split Blair completely in two at the waist.

Blair's separated body parts hung in mid-air for a split second, shocked expression plain on her face. The pieces then became some sort of black-colored magic, and violently dissipated, leaving only a soul with a faint purple glow behind.

Her weapon automatically flashed back into light, forming around her neck and reforming into a necklace. Maka limped over to the soul and cupped it into her hands. She had done it. She had beaten a demon, and finally, finally could return to heaven. She grasped the soul in her hand, smile gracing her lips.

A part of her didn't want to do it. It desperately, absolutely didn't want to go back. It didn't want to abandon her amazing human friends, leaving them to never know what happened to her. It didn't want to return back to the oppressive, stifling air of heaven. But she was an angel. This was what she had to do. She had to make up for what she had done. With a final burst of determination, she used her necklace to collect the soul. It swooped into the cross, the cross briefly glowing purple.

She grasped the cross, head moving up towards the sky. She closed her eyes, and waited.

And waited.

_And waited_.

_Nothing happened_.

Maka's eyes snapped open, and she frantically looked at her necklace. What was going on? It looked fine but something was clearly wrong. She started running every possible explanation through her head. Maybe it just took a while, maybe someone was going to escort her, maybe-

She was cut off from her thoughts as she saw a black cat happily strut in front of her, meowing. The cat suddenly was engulfed in a poof of lavender smoke, leaving none other than Blair on all fours remaining.

Maka's mouth hung open. She stuttered out an utterly confused, " _what_?"

"I never said I was a demon," Blair said casually, pawing her hand with curled fingers. "You just assumed Blair was on your own. But really, Blair is just a kitty who sold one of her souls for a heaping amount of demon magic. Blair had nine after all, don't you know cats have nine souls?" Blair said with a false pout.

Maka was speechless for a good minute. "So you're telling me," she began in a flabbergasted tone, "I just collected a soul of a cat into my holy heaven cross?!" Her voice raised to a shout with every word she spoke.

"Seems like it," Blair yawned uncaringly. "You sure aren't the smartest, little popinjay."

Maka suddenly remembered something.

"Wait..."

The Council of God member's words echoed in her head. "If you make the slightest mistake, you will stay on Earth for even more.'

"I have I start all over?!" She screamed, and not a moment after she did, a stream of light blue shot from her necklace, right into the sky, all her human souls being confiscated in less than a second. Her necklace fell limp against her chest.

Maka spun around, unable to look at that fucking woman, and was about to scream in frustration, when she noticed something- no, someone before her.

Soul stood in the entrance of the alley, completely and utterly frozen, eyes wide in confused shock.

Maka's heart sank.


	2. Spilled Milk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soul's Mad.

Maka's heart was in a deep, fearful abyss.

For five long years, she has lived a double life. One where she spent time with her lively, loving friends. She got to be a young adult, have fun, be _human_. And her second- a life as a traitorous angel who scrounged the world for human souls to collect, and, a demon for her to slay. In a city like the one she resided in, death was everywhere. Car accidents, shootings, murder, suicide, housefires, accidents of all kinds, you name it- it crawled the streets and left hundreds upon hundreds of human souls in need of collecting. Perhaps "in need of collecting" wasn't the correct way to put it, Maka figured. "In need of collecting _for her debt_." That was a much more accurate way to phrase it. A much more truthful way, at least.

She hid every collection of souls from humans. Especially from her best friend, her roommate. Especially from _Soul_.

They had met at a music store- the name of the store now long forgotten. Maka was only a few months into her instating into the human world. The only reason she had gone was to find some "music taste"- something to talk about to humans. As of now she was completely socially clueless, and completely without friends. She didn't understand what humans found so endearing about notes being played in an arbitrary sequence, and how defensive some humans got over their favorite genres. She must have been outwardly expressing her confusion, because Soul had sauntered up and started to help her find something she liked, mistaking her confusion of human culture for confusion on what music to select. Soul hadn't even worked at the store, he just wanted to help out. Maka actually learned her first human slang word from him.

"Cool."

He threw the word around in almost every conversation the held, even through calls or texts. He used it to describe himself, and though rarely, Maka. They had seemed to hit it off, and Maka ended up leaving the store with a new acquaintance, his cell contact, and a CD of the best piano singles the store had. They started texting, and in all honesty, never really stopped. She learned so much from him. Though their personalities clashed, they grew a bond that seemingly no one or nothing could break, and they both knew it.

Now, in this moment, with her secret laid out like spilled milk, and as time stood still in utter painful silence, she started to doubt that.

"Maka..." Was all Soul could manage at first.

Frantically, with eyes as wide as dinner plates, Maka deactivated her glamour, abruptly transforming back to her "normal" form.

"S-Soul, I-" Maka choked, but her mouth wouldn't allow a single more word to come out.

"'Maka, what the FUCK WAS THAT?!" Soul screamed, voice a painful mix of confusion, betrayal and hot anger.

Maka instinctively put her hands up defensively, wanting more than anything to just make her mouth work _correctly_. "S-Soul, I can- I can e-ex- explain, I-" Maka squeaked.

"Then EXPLAIN! Because NONE of this shit makes sense!! I just saw you magically transform into some goddamn magical girl and fight and fight a magic CAT!"

"I-I know!! I know, it-it looks so bad but-"

"BAD?! Are you kidding?! This is the weirdest shit I've ever seen! Maka, you CHOPPED SOMEONE IN HALF!" Soul stepped forward, throwing his hand in the direction of Blair, who was watching them as if a fascinating soap opera was going on right in front of her. "And HER! What the fuck was she even talking about?! Deals?! Demons, angels, what the hell does all that shit mean?!"

"JUST LET ME EXPLAIN!" Maka suddenly shouted, eyes shut in frustration.

Soul blinked in surprise at the outburst, while Blair daintily covered her mouth with her hand.

Maka took a deep breath, fighting back tears. "Let's go home first," she weakly rasped.

Soul looked miffed for a moment, before face flashing with more anger. "No, I want you to tell me NOW, Maka!"

Maka snapped her head up, her eyes tired and hurt, welling up with tears. "Please. I'll explain at home, just...please, let us go home first."

Soul stood silent for minutes on end.

"Fine," he finally mumbled in a defeated tone.

Maka nodded softly, stepping over to and past Soul, making the familiar trek home that now seemed like it was hundreds of miles longer. Neither of them said anything the entire journey. 

* * *

 

When they finally, mercifully returned to their apartment, Maka closed the door behind them, leaning against it. Her head dropped low, hair completely closing off the view to her face. Soul took a few steps then quickly spun around.

" _Well_?" He growled in an expectant tone.

Maka gave a ever-so slight flinch at the severity of the tone, before slowly looking up. Her green human eyes met Soul's briefly. She quickly looked away, feeling a squeeze of guilt on her very soul at the angry and hurt expression he bared.

"I suppose I should begin," Maka mumbled, "with the fact that I'm an angel with a human disguise."

Soul's expression remained stiff. "I guessed that much."

Maka sighed, trying to ignore his coldness. Maka didn't really blame him for it, though. "I was banished here on Earth for...breaking rules and I can't go back until I've collected ninety-nine human souls and one demon's soul. That's why I was fighting that woman...though, she turned out to not actually be a demon..."

"You're _collecting_ souls?" He looked a bit horrified.

Maka looked up quickly. "I don't kill anyone, I swear! I just wait for people to die naturally, then I put their souls into this..." She showed off her cross necklace. "It safely collects them."

"No wonder you never take that damn thing off," Soul said dryly.

Maka simply nodded slowly. "...angels, demons, heaven, and hell all exist, Soul." She met his eyes again. "A lot of angels and demons walk among humans and no one would be any the wiser. Humans always wonder about the afterlife and stuff like that, but...it's not what it's usually made out to be. When people die, their souls just float around, until someone comes along and takes it. Angels take them to heaven and demons to hell. Souls don't actually have feelings, so all the eternal paradise and eternal torture stuff is...well, bullshit. I'm just trying to send the souls I can up to heaven so I can return."

Soul raked his hand through his hair, seeming tense. "I can't believe this all. I can't believe that you're, what, an angel? An angel banished to earth who kills demons. And heaven and hell are real but also bullshit."

"Well, I've never actually fought a demon before..."

"Still! This is too fucking much for me to comprehend right now, Maka." Soul gripped a fistful of his hair. "All this magical bullshit just suddenly popped into my life, and I didn't ask for it to. I only went back to check on you because you were acting weird and I was _worried_ , is that so fucking wrong?" The question was more to the world than Maka, or some other being behind his misfortune. Soul wished he could just _forget_.

"I know, it's unfair...I never meant for you to find out. I knew humans wouldn't take these things well..."

"Well no shit, Maka!" Soul snapped. "You just told me that literal demons waltz around the world and you're magical!"

Maka shut her eyes. "This is why I didn't wanna tell you. Now you probably hate me."

"You did lie to me for five fucking years, Maka. And now my life can kind of never be the goddamn same." Soul said lowly, tone silently voicing spite.

Maka clenched her fists. This was it. She had lost her best friend and he hated her. She knew how badly she messed up. Everything was ruined. Maka tried her damnedest to keep the tears in her eyes from falling.

"But...I don't _hate_ you, Maka."

Maka snapped her eyes open, her lips parting in bemusement.

"We're friends and, as hard as this shit is for me to understand, I kind of understand how you feel, I guess. I mean, if I had a secret like that I'd be afraid of what people would think too."

"So...you don't hate me?" She asked meekly.

"I just said I didn't, yeah." Soul shrugged. "But, yeah, I'm still upset as hell. This is too much, I have so many questions..." Soul trailed off, his anger fading into complete stress. "Jesus Christ, this is too fucking much..."

"I can give you time alone, if that's what you need." Maka offered, sadness seeping into the edge of her voice and soul.

"Yeah, I think...I think that would be good." Soul had a distant, tired look in his eyes that Maka unfortunately recognized. She knew that she wouldn't have any luck comforting as of now. She only saw that look when things were _really_ bad.

Maka nodded, silently leaving the room and shutting herself up in her room. She soon heard the door to Soul's room shut as well. She curled up on her bed, hugging one of her pillows to her chest tightly.

Guilt, regret, anxiety and pure, untainted fear all trickled through her blood like poison. She felt it all flow it's way to her heart, making her chest feel cold, and tight. She spent an entire hour motionless. She had nothing to focus on but her mistakes, and her healing wounds, though the pain she felt because of the bruises wasn't anywhere near the pain in her soul. Right now, she didn't care about the bruises.

Though she desperately did not want to, she knew she had to contact her superiors to at least explain what she had done, what had went so horribly wrong.

Maka rose from her bed, walking over to the mirror hanging above her dresser. She exhaled a hot breath against the surface, writing in the numbers thirty-six, thirty-six, then three sevens in a row. A small jingle fogged the back of her mind, reminding her of when she first learned the number from her parents.

_"Thirty-six, thirty-six, seven-seven-seven. Whenever you desire to see the kin of heaven."_

The mirror let out a cheerful ring, pulsing white ripples extending from it's center. She never really understood why mirrors were a way to contact heaven. It seemed like a random connection. She had heard from whispers in heaven that demons contacted their superiors in hell the same way, but, of course, with a different number. The featureless head of one of the members of the Council of God graced the mirror.

"Angel Maka, report."

Maka stood much more stiffly. "I mistook a cat with demon abilities for a demon, Council Member. I apologize for my ignorance. I have reason to believe all my human souls have been confiscated."

"You are correct, they have, and rightfully so. At this rate, you'll be on Earth for many more years to come." The member robotically threatened, no sense of emotion at all to their voice. "Anything else in need of reporting?"

Maka bit her lip. She should tell them about Soul witnessing her, but...

"No, Council Member."

"Very well," they said, "Do not let these incidents occur again." The mirror went black for a moment, before slowly fading back into its regular state. Her reflection stared at her, and Maka stared right back. It was almost funny. Maka thought her guilt and shame could never become more severe if she sought out to make it so.

Maka was completely proven wrong, right there and then.

 

* * *

 

Soul didn't talk to her for two days.

The only interaction they shared was passing glances when either of them left their rooms for food or otherwise- which was a rarity in of itself. Most of their time was sent sulking, or thinking. The lot of the sulking was done by Maka.

The morning of the third day, they were pulled from the suffocating drowning of the silence. At first, Maka couldn't register Soul was even _speaking_ to her.

Soul was in the kitchen, early, leaning over the counter. He didn't turn his head towards her when he spoke.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

It was a simple question. No deeper meaning or real significance, just a simple question. But it made Maka's life since the incident seem so much more normal. Like things were okay. It brought a warm comfort to her. A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips.

"Bacon. You make the best bacon."

Maka saw an ever so slight flash of a white smile from Soul.

"Coming right up." Soul went through their cabinets and their fridge, gathering all the ingredients and supplies.

Maka strolled to their couch, sitting down and watching Soul cook idly. She didn't quite understand yet why he seemed more friendly, but she definitely was not complaining.

Soon, Soul brought Maka her bacon on the usual brand of cheap paper plate, placing himself next to her on the couch with his own plate. They ate in silence for a while. She didn't want the silence to come back between them, especially after they seemed to make progress.

"So, Soul," she tentatively began. "Are you...ready to talk to me now?"

Soul gazed off into nothingness for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, I think so. I've had plenty of time to myself by now."

Maka offered him a weak smile. "Yeah. I can answer any questions you need."

Soul thought for a moment.

"I have a lot of questions."

"Yeah, I know." Maka's smile faltered.

Soul sat back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling. "Alright. Well, starting off...how exactly does heaven work? You said you got banished, but from what?"

"Heaven has five angels running it. Their group is called the Council of God. There's also the Discipline Force, which is basically heaven's equivalent of a police force. The Council of God makes all the rules, and they're who decided I should be banished. They're..pretty repressive. I mean, it's illegal to speak unless spoken to there."

"So...what'd you do to be banished?"

Maka felt a drum of pain at her soul. She knew this would come up. "Well, I...I basically spoke out against the unnecessary rules. But y'know, with more...uh, curse words." She let the information sit.

After a moment, Soul cackled, which caused Maka to glare at him.

"What are you laughing at?!"

Soul didn't answer for a moment, too enwrapped in his chortling. "It's just that-" he snorted. "You never change. You _cussed them out_. Maka, you don't _do that_ to fucking tyrannical dictators."

"I know that dammit! It- it was different in the moment!"

"You cussed out dictators!" Soul burst out in laughter again.

Maka's cheeks flared red in embarrassment, and she stay fuming for a few moments, only able to listen to her roommate's irritating laughter.

Once Soul's last chuckles died down, he looked over at Maka. "Dude, I don't think I can take you seriously again. You got banned from a holy paradise for being a _brat_."

Maka huffed out angrily. "Fine, fine, very funny. Can we move on now?"

Soul shrugged, still grinning. "Sure, of you're gonna be salty at me." Maka rolled her eyes. "Alright, well...what about hell and demons and all that?"

"Well, I don't know much except for what rumors there were in heaven, but...I can try." Soul nods. "First off...Demons do basically the same thing as angels with human souls. They collect them from dead humans, and take them to Hell. Though, demons will kill humans in order to collect souls. Demons also have powers angels don't. For example, they can make deals with humans in exchange for something for the demon wants. That woman I fought was a cat who made a deal with a demon for power. I have no idea what kind of demon would bargain with a _cat_ , but I had never heard of it happening before, it kinda caught me off guard."

"What kinda things can demons give people?" Soul asked.

"A lot of things. Power, money, material things. Some people ask for demons to kill someone for them or have someone fall in love with them."

"That's fucked up." Soul furrowed his brow.

Maka nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it is. And what's worse is that just the wording of a deal can give the demon an unspoken advantage. Like, if a person asks for a million dollars, a demon might ask if they want the money with them right now. If the human says yes, the demon may make it a million dollars in pennies and crush them to death under the coins. That kind of petty stuff."

"Wow, that's...even more fucked up."

"Yeah." Maka sighed. "I don't know anything about what Hell is like, though."

Soul nodded. "So what was that scythe thing? Your necklace?"

"It collects souls." Maka took off the necklace and held it up for Soul. "It also has a glamour, which keeps it in the necklace form until I need to use the scythe to fight. Glamour is a spell or object that makes what it enchants appear to be a different form, by the way."  
  
"That's what makes you look human, right?"

Maka nodded. "Right."

"I think I got most of that...Man, that's a lot to take in...there's all this stuff I never knew was happening all the time. To be honest, I never really believed in God or heaven or anything like that."

"That's understandable," Maka offered. "A lot of humans don't. What people believe really doesn't affect what happens to their soul in the end. But religion and stuff brings comfort to some humans, so angels really don't have an interest in changing those beliefs. It sucks, but what happens to humans when they die is entirely up to luck." Maka's eyes grew flaked with grim reality. "Even for those that do believe, everything is...different. We're actual creatures and not just holy beings. It's...all twisted around most of the time."

"So Maka..." Soul began, brow furrowed slightly as he frowned. "Can angels die?"

"Yes. Demons can too. Angels and demons both are technically living things. But when an angel dies, their soul becomes light and their body fades away..." Maka gripped the fabric of her shirt right above her heart. "And they...stop existing. I don't know what happens to demons."

"Have you seen that happen..?" Soul asked gently.

Maka closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. "Yes."

Soul put a firm hand on her shoulder, meeting her green eyes. "I'm sorry."

Maka let his hand sit, regaining her composure and pushing bad memories down into her mind. She had plenty of time to cry about those things when she was alone.

They both stayed still and quiet, the passage of time meaning nothing to the two as they simply dwelled in each other's presence. They didn't need, or even know the words right to say. Soul gently took her hand, a symbol of affection they rarely indulged in. Maka squeezed his hand gently, closing her eyes gently.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you the other day, it wasn't cool of me." Soul finally murmured.

Maka opened her eyes, shaking her head. "No, I understand. It was a really confusing time for you. It's natural you'd be upset."

"I guess, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Let's just agree that we both made some mistakes and we're both sorry."

"Sounds good to me." Soul grinned, earning a small smile from Maka. She gripped his tan hand tightly, feeling comfort swell in her chest. It was silly of her, really, to ever doubt him. He really was the most reliable guy she knew.

Maka let her smile fade. "I hope that you'll be able to forgive me for keeping...that from you all his time."

Souls half-shrugged. "I forgive you. I'm still upset and I think you should have told me but I forgive you."

Maka's smile returned. "Thanks, Soul."

"What are friends for?"

Maka gently punched his arm as a sign of affection. "Don't know, but wherever you're doing can't be right," she joked.

"Oh, look who's talking. Aren't angels supposed to be nice?"

"I got kicked out of freaking heaven and you're expecting nice?" Maka grinned.

"Touché." Soul grinned back widely. They both laughed, the familiar feeling of comfort and easygoing togetherness returning to their apartment once again.

They were soon.interrupted by the chorus of "Pumped Up Kicks" blaring at them at full, almost painfully obnoxious volume.

Maka and Soul both stared at each other for a second before Maka's eye slowly twitched.

"We were having a moment, and your stupid-ass ringtone ruined it."

"What can ya do?" Soul asked, picking up the cellphone and answering. "Y'ello?"

"Who is it?" Maka inquired, shaking her head as their bonding moment was ruined. Ruined by Pumped Up Kicks, of all things.

Maka could hear screaming incoherent sentences from the other end. "Nevermind."

Soul nodded, cringing slightly as he held the phone farther away from his ear. "Say again? This time with less screeching, Blake."

There was slightly quieter talking on Blackstar's end now. Key word being slightly.

Maka could make out a couple words, but nothing really important enough for her to guess what he was saying, so instead she simply waited for Soul to tell her.

After a minute of listening, Soul turned his head towards her. "Liz texted him and Tsu and says we need to get our asses over to Marie's at the end of her shift."

"For what?"

"He said Marie had something important to tell us."

Maka grew a bit worried. She hoped it was good news. Marie had always been like a mother figure to the entire group, especially Liz and Patty, getting them both jobs at her little coffee shop to try to help them with their financial problems. Marie was always so kind to everyone, and was always open to listen to Maka's worries over a cup of tea when she needed it. Of course, she never told Marie about her status as an angel. Regardless, she shared some personal things with her, and Marie never even vaguely told anyone about it. Maka would be heartbroken if something bad happened to her.

"Is she okay?" Maka asked quickly, trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

"I don't know, probably. Blackstar don't seem that concerned."

Maka rolled her eyes. "That's cause he's Blackstar. He's never concerned."

"True." Soul leaned back into his phone. "Do you know what she needs?" He asked Blackstar. He paused for a couple seconds. "She's okay, right?" He listened for a bit again. "Alright, thanks Blake. Yeah. Seeya." Soul puts his phone back in his pocket, turning back to Maka.

"She's okay," he told her. "But Blackstar says whatever it is that it's important. But he doesn't really know what this important thing is either so, guess we'll find out tonight."

Maka nodded softly. "What do we do until then?"

Soul predictably shrugged. "We've had a hard couple days. We can just chill and watch some movies."

Maka smiled softly. "That sounds good."

Soul got up, walking over to their tv and kneeling in front of it. He searched the bottom shelf of their TV stand. "What kinda movies you thinking?"

"Something maybe not depressing?" Maka monotoned.

"Soooo, not my biography?" Soul quipped, grinning softly.

Maka snickered. "I mean, who would wanna watch that?"

Soul pretended to be offended, gasping dramatically. "Rude."

"It's not rude if it's honest," she teased with an evil smirk.

"You should really file for becoming a demon. You'd fit right in." Soul turned around, wide toothy grin plastered on his lips.

"You can't file for being a demon." Maka glared a bit. "You just become one. If anyone's a demon, it's you. You're the one wth red eyes and sharp teeth."

"Once again, rude, I'm albino. And second of all, my teeth aren't even that sharp. They're like, slightly pointy."

Maka waved her hand. "Oh whatever, Soul. You can deny it all you want. Since you know I'm an angel now, you can tell me if you are one."

"I'm not a demon, dammit."

Maka sticks out her tongue. "Just pick a movie, Satan."

"You'd best not start calling me Satan." Soul threatens, glaring daggers.

Maka pretends to think for a moment. "Hmmm, well it was gonna be a one time thing, but since you said not to call you that, I kinda wanna call you that."

"God damn it, Maka!"

After thirty minutes of empty bickering, they finally agreed on a Disney movie marathon. Their little insults and playful arguments had become something of a way to bond between them. It had become habit, a tradition to tease each other in a way that would seem cold and angry to outsiders looking in, but neither of them ever really meant what they said. Even if they did, they would make efforts for each other to improve or come to a compromise.

Halfway into Mulan, there was a loud knock at the door before it was slammed open. Soul and Maka jumped in surprise.

"What's up, fuckers?!" Blackstar screamed, "Time to cheer up, your lord and savior is here-me!" Blackstar jumped onto their dining table, flexing heroically. "The sun itself is here to shine light on your lives!"

Maka took off one of her shoes and flung it at Blackstar, decking him directly in the head. He cried out in pain, jumping off the table grabbing the shoe from the ground.

"How dare you attack your god?!" He bellowed, glaring daggers.

Maka simply crossed her arms. "You were being obnoxious. Now do you wanna chill out and watch Mulan with us or are we gonna have to kick you out?"

A jet of black hair and pale skin popped out from the door. Tsubaki looked in meekly, smiling nervously. "I hope he didn't do anything too stupid. Are you two okay?"

Blackstar whipped around, jaw dropped. "Are THEY okay?! I'm the one who got hit with a shoe!"

"Speaking of, can I have it back?" Maka asked, looking extremely unamused.

Blackstar huffed, before tossing Maka her shoe back. It took little convincing from Tsubaki for him to join Maka and Soul on their movie marathon, Tsubaki joining as well once she had made the group some popcorn. They watched every Disney movie they owned. Soul made snide comments the entire time, while Blackstar was surprisingly the one most offended by his bashing of Disney movies. He had lectured Soul, loudly, many times about the "sacredness" of the Disney movie. Tsubaki agreed with him until he started to get overly violent. Maka and Tsubaki had to hold them both back from having a full on fist fight in the last ten minutes of Frozen. Another entire hour was spent in a heated debate on whether Frozen was actually good or not. Soul was obviously against it- and at Maka's support of him, Blackstar wouldn't stop screaming that she was a 'dirty traitor'. Needless to say, the day went by very quickly. In the end, they all made up, after several hours, all of them laughing at themselves for being so silly. They were just four friends having a blast, without a care in the world.

Well, until they were nearly at Marie's shop.

"Oh god, what if she's sick, what if she's _dying_?!" Maka mused anxiously, tugging at one of the ends of her ponytails.

"Maka, I'm sure she's not dying." Soul had tried to reassure her for the entire trip over, with absolutely no luck. How voice was monotoned heavily from the drag of saying the same few comforts repeatedly.

"But what if she is?!"

"Even if she was," Blackstar snorted, "I could save her life from my pure will alone! I can easily surpass death!" He grinned widely, and Tsubaki shook her head.

"You can't surpass _death_ , you idiot." Soul responded, pursing his lips in irritation.

"Watch me!" He yelled back.

Maka and Tsubaki both quietly thanked their lucky starts as the shop came into view. They all entered, seeing no customers around. It was usual, for when the sky started to redden and darken with twilight, the shop began to drift to sleep with it. Liz was at the counter, smiling at their arrival. She waved at them, her silver bracelets jingling quietly.

They all voiced greetings, walking over to her. "What's going on, guys?" She asked casually.

"Miss Marie asked us to come." Maka answered, returning Liz's smile.

"Yeah, she told me to hang back too. Patty's in the back with her. Has she told any of you what the big deal is?" They all shook their heads. "Figures," Liz sighed. "That woman can be so stubborn."

As if on cue, Marie came out from a far door on the right side of the cafe, holding a tray with seven cups of a hot beverage on top. Her one caramel eye gleamed with excitement upon seeing the group. Her other eye was covered by a white gauze patch that she never took off. None of them had seen her without it, and neither have any of them been told why she has it. She smiled happily.

"It's good to see you all! I'm so glad you came, I was a bit worried you might have somewhere else to be. Sit down, I made you all some tea." She nodded her head towards one of the bigger cafe tables. They all took a seat, Marie elegantly placing a cup of tea in front of each chair.

Patty burst out from the door Marie had come in. "HI, GUYS!!" She bellowed happily, practically throwing herself into a chair. They all jumped in surprise, say for Blackstar, who just grinned.

Marie giggled at her antics. "It's good that you're all here. I can tell you what's so important when Liz's shift ends, which is soon."

"You can't let her have five minutes off..?" Soul asked, eyes flattening.

"What kind of example as a boss would I be setting then?"

The door jingled, a customer entering the shop.

"See, there's even customers." She looked up at the boy who had entered. "Welcome!"

The boy looked back, pitch black hair falling into his eyes for a moment. He lifted a pale hand and offered her a wave.

He was eye-catching, to say the least. His porcelain-like skin contrasted his dark hair marvelously, matching the dark suit he wore. His clothing choice seemed a little stuffy, and you could tell he was fairly small in build due to the fitted jacket loosely wrinkling in places. The most striking thing about him, however, were his eyes. Pure pots of shining gold, only growing deeper as the color neared his pupil. His eyes were calm, shining, and simply put, beautiful. He was very handsome-looking, more in a feminine, mysterious and gentle way than anything else. Marie jolted a bit, seeming to recognize him.

"Oh, Kid! Welcome! It's so nice to see you! I was wondering if you were in town."

The boy simply nodded. "Yes, I am." With his hands shoving back into the pockets of his dress pants, he stepped over to the counter in front of Liz. She grinned.

"Hey, Kiddo. Here for the regular?" The boy nodded, and Liz reached under the counter, pulling up a small to-go back. She set it on the counter-top, and the boy took it.

"Thank you, as always. I can always rely on you, hm?" The boy smiled gently, and everyone at the table had to take a moment to recover from the sight.

"Well, I kind of owe you for taking me shopping like, all the time." She jingled her new silver bracelets. "And getting me nice things."

"Well, lord knows I can afford it." He joked, through his voice was still quite serious-sounding.

Liz laughed. "You're right about that, Kid. Y'know, Patty's been missing ya in the mornings. You don't show up for coffee anymore, what's up?"

"That's me!!" Patty chirped loudly, leaning back in her chair so far, it was a wonder she didn't fall over. She waved her arm in huge motions at the dark boy. "Hi, Kid!!"

Kid nodded at her with another small smile. "I know, I've just been really busy lately is all."

"Well, do you have time to sit for a bit?" Liz looked over at Marie, wordlessly asking permission if Kid could stay for the news.

Marie nodded with a smile, standing. "I'll get you a cup of tea as well." She walked off to do so, her shining sunset-gold hair flowing behind her.

"I do, that is why I came to pick up the pastries."

Liz snorted. "You're so obsessed with those."

"It is not my fault they're delicious." The boy rolled his eyes. "So what's going on?"

The small clock on the counter beeped, and Liz practically threw off the apron that was part of her uniform. "Marie has some big news to share, so she gathered a bunch of people she knows to tell them. Here, I'll introduce ya." The boy looked a little unsure, but still followed her to the table where the five sat. They all stood up a little straighter.

"These are all my friends, the ones I told you about." She gestures at them one by one. "You know Patty. This is Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, and Blackstar, but you can call him Blake if you want." Tsubaki smiled and waved at him shyly. The boy bowed his head briefly in a greeting.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Maka politely said.

"Likewise," the boy replied. Blackstar jumped up from his seat quickly, grinning in a way they haven't really seen from him before. The boy jumped a bit in surprise.

"What's up?! I'm Blackstar and I'm the new greatest person you've ever met!"

Tsubaki grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back into his chair. "Blackstar!" She softly scolded.

The boy looked extremely confused. "I'm sure you are." He deadpanned. Or maybe that was his voice. No one could really tell.

"Aaaaanyway," Liz put an end to their brief antics. "Everyone, this is Kid. I have no idea if that's his real name."

"It is." He immediately confirmed.

Liz seemed to ignore his comment. "I've been hanging with him off and on for a while now, he's cool. I meant to introduce you guys sooner, but, y'know, life and shit." She threw her arm around Kid's shoulders.

He glared deeply at her. "Watch your mouth. Also, thanks for ruining my symmetry." The second sentence dripped with sarcasm.

"For god's sake Kid, I'm a fucking adult."

"What did I literally just say?"

Patty laughed loudly, while the others chuckled quietly. Though, Blackstar chuckles as quietly as Blackstar possibly could, which wasn't very.

Marie came back with a single teacup in her hand. She pulled up a chair to the table and set the cup in front of it. "Here you go, Kid-kun."

Kid took a seat nearest to Marie, on his other side, Patty sat. "Thank you, Marie-san."

They all gave Marie a confused look. "He's Japanese." She simply stated with a small shrug.

Kid nodded, taking a small sip of his tea. Liz also took a seat at the table.

"Now that we're all finally here, I can tell you the big news. Well, there really is two pieces of news." She took a moment to pause. "You all most likely know that I've been seeing Stein for some time now, and he and I have decided to become an official couple."

Everyone burst into smiles.

"That's great, Marie!" Maka cried happily.

Marie giggled. "Yes, yes, but that isn't even the best news. You see...I'm going to have a baby."

They all were shocked, silent for a long moment.

Blackstar was unfortunately the first to speak.

"YOU GUYS HAD SEX?!"

Soul, Liz, and Patty all burst out into hysterical laughter at Blackstar's reaction.

"WHAT?! ITS A VALID QUESTION!"

Marie placed her face in her hand, while Tsubaki and Maka had unyielding shocked expressions slapped onto their faces. Kid just looked extremely confused again.

"Yes, we did. That's how pregnancy works, Star." Marie hissed.

There was a long, painful silence.

"You're _pregnant_." Maka finally choked out.

Maka's world, at least for a moment, turned completely upside down.

One of the nicest people in her life, her role model, her mother away from her mother was having a baby. She was having a baby and Maka was definitely not ready for this. It was a baby. The beginning of new life. This wasn't her job. This was the complete opposite of her job.

"WE HAVE TO THROW A BABY SHOWER RIGHT NOW!" Screamed Patty, squealing with excited laughter.

"That's amazing news, Marie!" Tsubaki finally cried.

Maka's head spun. "A baby..." she mumbled in a daze. Soul had to shake her multiple times to snap her out of her trance.

Marie explained that she had manage to coax Dr. Franken Stein out of his shell slowly, and they decided they wanted to contribute to the next generation and finally chase happiness.

Maka had never really been around Stein for longer than a few minutes, but he definitely had a very intimidating and strange aura. His hair was completely gray, though he only was in late thirties. He had many scars of unknown origin veining across his face and body that Maka never dared to ask about. Marie had told her long ago that he was a 'retired' surgeon, who was apparently waiting for the right time to reinstate as a doctor. Marie had also told her that she intensely suspected that he had been fired for malpractice. He usually seemed distant and cold, but when he was around Marie, he somehow seemed...brighter. Marie just seemed to have that affect on people.

After spending the next thirty minutes or so chatting about the details, such as how long she's been pregnant. Spoiler: Two weeks. They also briefly got to know Kid, which went little farther than how he, Liz, and Patty met.

Apparently, their first true meeting was back when Liz and Patty lived on the streets. They had tried to rob him, and he instead made them a bank account and got them enough funds to start their life back over again. He disappeared for a while until they crossed paths again three months prior at Marie's cafe, and they'd been hanging out frequently ever since. It was obvious both girls seemed to share admiration, or gratefulness towards him.

Kid left first, pulling his dark jacket further around himself, leaving behind an empty teacup.

Then, Tsubaki and Blackstar left, Tsubaki seeming exhausted while Blackstar's energy never faltered. Liz and Patty told Maka and Soul to go ahead and go home without them, and that she and her sister had work stuff to do before they'd go. Finally, Maka left, Soul in tow.

They were just two friends without a care in the world.

They didn't notice the watching eyes planted on them.

Those red, sick eyes stared at the pair, pupils thin, like a deadly snake's. A venomous green and yellow prickled at the edges of the irises. A thin, demented smile stretched across the demon's face.

"It seems that angels can get into monotonous habits just as humans can." The woman's intimidating voice purred, chuckling with amusement. "I just had to stay right where I sensed her wavelength, and there she is. I was almost expecting a challenge." The demon sighed in mock disappointment, almost pouting. "At least the true fun can begin quicker."

Medusa Gorgan, an infamous demon among heaven and hell, smiled down at the unknowing two. Her crimes against demons and angels alike left her permanently banned from hell forever- now, the human world was her domain.

"I believe..." She breathed, "It's time we all begin a nice experiment together."

A twisted smile snaked onto her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Thirty-six and seven are both supposed to be holy numbers, which is why I used them instead of 42-42-564 for heaven's "contact."


	3. Top of The Tumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to heat up- two fight scenes ahead. Blood and such also ahead.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy. Or don't. I can't tell you how to live your life.

Crona was a miserable creature.

Their whole life, they had been haunted by their own mother. Her wicked smile infected every second of every day, whether it was before their eyes or plaguing their mind. Unlike most demons, they were not created, but _birthed_ into this hellish world. They had no idea who their father was, but whoever it was must have been delusional or stupid to have relations with Medusa. Or, perhaps Medusa had simply taken what she wanted.

Usually, a demon and a human having a child would not result in a demon child, but instead an 'artificial demon.' Artificial demons are closer to half demons than 'false' demons when it comes to terms, being created either when a human baby is injected with demon blood, or when one of a child's parents is a demon, and the other a human. Usually, the father is the one who is the demon, for demons cannot become impregnated by a human. But in Crona's case, their father was an artificial demon, though an unknowing one. An artificial demon not knowing that they have demon blood within them is not uncommon, for artificial demons externally resemble humans. Artificial demons have always shown that they possess at least one inhuman trait, however. Their magic is usually very weak, and sometimes, an artificial demon will live and die without ever knowing the demonic blood flowing through them was ever there. There are such things as artificial Angels, which are much more common, as angels can both bear children of humans and are more likely to fall in love with humans.

Crona's father had demon blood injected in him as a baby by Medusa, having been chosen before he was even born to father her future child. Being three fourths of a demon was already unheard of, but Medusa didn't stop there with her experiment. She added the dark blood of the demon Ragnorok, known as the Black Dragon at the peak of his glory. He was an extremely powerful demon, wreaking havoc and death wherever he so pleased, until he was captured and imprisoned by the Royal Family Of Hell long before Crona was ever born. Medusa managed to capture him and melt him into molten liquid with the help of the hottest fires of Hell she could find. Crona's blood was replaced with this new, possessed black blood. Now, the demon Ragnorok lived within them, and they were more demon than any other creature had ever been. Soon after the royal family of Hell caught wind of what Medusa had done to the child, she was permanently banished from Hell, the child taken away. The child did not stay in their custody for long, however, for only a year passed before Medusa had taken them back. To demons, a year is practically nothing, so Crona's relief from torment had lasted but a fleeting moment.

From then on, Medusa raised the child to be without empathy and independence. She taught the child how to kill, how to fight, and how to master the dark powers granted to them by their black blood. Ragnorok often formed outside of Crona's body and beat them often, only adding to the hell Crona lived with. Now, Crona was five hundred years old, still very young for a demon, and after so long of waiting and experimenting, Crona's master and mother was ready to unleash them upon the world.

Crona didn't know how to feel about it.

* * *

 

  
They heard footsteps, and peeked ever so slightly around the corner of the building they were currently hiding behind. Their dark, deep purple eyes locked onto the pair of figures approaching the arranged spot. Medusa's voice whispered in their mind,

" _Crona...Get them into position._ "

Crona said nothing, waiting until the two reached the entrance of the alleyway. They inched back into the shadows. They could hear idle chatter, but the static of their mind did not allow them to comprehend, or even care. After the two passed by a few feet, they stepped out behind them.

"You..." Crona's soft, unsure voice addressed, causing the both of them to turn around. The girl with dirty blonde, or perhaps light brown hair spoke soon after.

"Me?" She simply asked in confusion.

Crona peeked through their pink bangs up at the girl. "Yes," they said, barely above a whisper. "I need your help. There's a demon who keeps beating me up..." Crona's voice shook, seemingly from fear.

Maka looked concerned. "A..demon...?" The girl and the white-haired boy shared a look.

"Please help me..." Crona pleaded pathetically, sounding near tears.

The girl finally seemed to crack, walking over to Crona. "Hey, it's okay. Listen, since you already know about demons, I need to tell you. I'm an angel, I'll protect you from the demon. Okay?"

Lady Medusa was right. This was without a doubt, her target. Crona's target.

Crona gave a weak nod. "Please, come this way." Crona quickly scurried deeper into the alley, the girl following after a brief glance towards the strange boy. Crona knew what they had to do. They led them both into an abandoned auto-shop, which had been scooped clean of all it's furniture and machinery, now resembling a very large garage. The hole of the in-ground car life had been covered with wooden boards, almost hastily. Crona stepped to the middle of the room, the only light of the room coming from the large opening of the garage door, and a few holes in the ceiling. The room was a mix of gray and warm orange of the sunset. The sky was orange and yellow.

"Did the demon hurt you here...?" The angel asked, seeming confused and perhaps a bit suspicious.

The boy spoke for the first time Crona had seen him. "This place is creepy. I have a bad feeling about this."

"That door..." Crona breathed tiredly. "It's heavy. It's made of steel."

Right on cue, the door slammed shut, a loud bang being made when the metal collided with the concrete floor.

They were all locked in.

Two pairs of fearful eyes locked on Crona.

"What the hell is going on?!" The scary-looking boy asked. Crona just now noticed his razor-sharp teeth, ready to eat them up.

Crona could feel their blood moving and boiling within them, and had no time to brace for the pain. They let out an ear-shattering scream, as the flesh of their back was torn open to make room for the emerging demon within them. They felt a strong hand slam on top of their head, looking up to see the ever-present demon Ragnorok tilting his head at the pair.

The two looked utterly horrified, eyes wide in panic. The angel's hands even seemed to tremble a bit.

"My blood is black." They told them, eyes turning a sickly white, their pupils contracting into pinpoints.

The angel took a step back. "Wha- what is that? What's going on?"

"My blood is black," Crona answered without answering. "You wanna know why?" Despite getting no response, Crona continued. "It's because I've got a demon in me. The demon that beats me up."

The two looked utterly shocked and horrified, so many questions very clearly running through their minds. Ragnorok squeezed Crona's head painfully.

"THAT'S ME! NOW THAT YOU IDIOTS ARE HERE, I'M GONNA KILL YOUR FILTHY ASSES!" Ragnorok shouted in his deep voice. "I AM THE FEARED BLACK DRAGON, THE DEMON RAGNOROK! TREMBLE IN FEAR!" He demanded. Crona simply watched them, grabbing one of their own arms nervously. They really didn't know how to deal with Ragnorok's constant yelling. They don't like yelling. It hurts their ears.

"Maka..." the boy uttered, looking at his companion.

The girl in question looked over, suddenly looking determined. She stood up straighter. "So you're a demon?"

Crona gave a tiny nod.

"Then as my duty as an angel of god, I must strike you down!" She powerfully declared, grabbing a shiny necklace, _the_ necklace from around her neck and snapping the chain, gripping the necklace in her fist. She looked at the boy behind her. "Soul, stay back."

He nodded, watching as the metal of her jewelry turned a bright white, forming into a full-sized weapon, a scythe.

"Let's kill her." Ragnorok told Crona, more of an order than a suggestion.

" _Go, Crona. Do what I told you. Then take what we need._ " Medusa's voice once again cooed in their mind. This broke them, making them crack their neck to the side unnaturally fast. Kill her. Kill her. They were going to kill her. Kill her, kill her, kill her.

They were aware of Ragnorok transforming back into blood, and without looking twice they reached up, feeling the handle of their weapon already formed within their hand. They slowly pulled the sword for the cloud of blood like a sheath.

"That thing has a weapon inside of it...?" The boy mumbled from behind the angel...behind Maka.

They didn't hesitate as they flew forward, slashing at Maka as hard as they could. They felt the blade stop, and a loud clang rang through the walls of the room. Crona swung their blade away from the block, assaulting the air with several hard swings. The angel struggled to block them all, flinching upon every impact. She slowly was pushed backwards. The angel finally mustered up the strength to attack, and Crona immediately brought up their arm to block it. The blade barely broke the skin.

The angel looked horrified. Black blood dripped onto the ground, the small drops suddenly flashing into deadly spikes. The angel had barely any time to twist away, and mid-air, Crona slammed the angel into the far wall as hard as they could.

She she hit the wall with a sickening crack, blood spurting from her open mouth.

"MAKA!" The boy screamed, seeming to afraid to move from his spot.

It was a major surprise that the angel remained standing, though shaking and in immense pain. Something was clearly broken. Crona shot forward again, slashing across the angel's chest and sending her tumbling across the concrete with a cry of pain, her weapon being violently ripped from her grip. The position was perfect for what they needed to do. They approached the girl without a rush, slowly raising the blade above their head.

"Soul, run!!" She desperately gasped to the boy, holding the large cut that ran from her shoulder to the opposite lower side of her ribcage.

"I told you, the door is too heavy. He can't lift it. You're both stuck here." Crona knew all too much about being trapped. Crona vaguely saw movement out of the corner of their eye, and slashed downward with all their strength.

Blood splattered everywhere, the angel's eyes wide. Red covered the floor, the walls, and all three of the trapped in the room. For a moment, red was all any of them could see.

The boy collapsed to the ground, nearly cut in half from the pure severity of the cut. He lay in a puddle of his own red blood, motionless. His eyes were wide. Perhaps he had died already. That would be a problem, though...

Maka screamed bloody murder, grabbing the boy's body. "SOUL!!"

Everything had fallen into place, Lady Medusa's plan had worked perfectly. They didn't expect it to be so easy. They truly were as close as Lady Medusa had told them. Well, in her words they were, "stupidly loyal." She was probably right.

"Little one..." Crona addressed the angel. "I can save him. I won't kill either of you...if...you give me something..." Blank white eyes stared into forest green eyes. She truly was like the little one. So small, so helpless. Waiting to be killed. But not yet. Not yet.

"Wh..what do you mean..?"

The boy gurgled on his own blood, chest spasming with every quick breath. Maka held him tighter.

"I'll make a deal with you....I save him...and you give me that..." Crona slowly pointed a slender finger at Maka's discarded weapon. "You will give me ownership of it...and..I save  
....that boy."

"No, Maka." The boy gasped between coughs. "Don't trust them, they'll kill us." He gripped the fabric of her shirt desperately.

The angel looked as torn as her heart must be, hot tears welling up in those no-longer innocent green eyes. Those eyes seemed to lose focus, and the angel finally seemed to understand her world was crashing down around her. She was trapped in so many more ways than one. Trapped in the building, trapped in this decision, trapped in herself.

"What choice do I have..?" She finally squeaked pathetically through her tears.

"In exchange for both your lives...ownership of the holy necklace..." Crona held out a pale, frail hand. They had never done this before. What if they made the deal wrong? They had said just what Lady Medusa had told them to...But what if they did it wrong?

" _Get on with it_." Medusa demanded in their head.

Despite the boy Soul's quiet protests, Maka reached out and took Crona's hand, shaking it. They stiffened at the touch. They didn't know how to deal with girls touching them.

"Take it," she finally uttered in a defeated tone. As the deal was sealed, the necklace immediately shifted back into it's default form, being shot straight into Crona's awaiting free hand. They had done it. They gripped the necklace like their life depended on it.

Their mission was finally complete. They succeeded and made Lady Medusa proud. Turning on their heel, they left the bleeding boy and the sobbing angel behind, leaving the establishment through the back doors.

The sky had become black and blue.

 

* * *

 

Maka sobbed, gripping Soul as tight as she could. He wasn't healing. Ah could feel the warm blood still covering her hands. He wasn't healing, for the love of god, why wasn't he healing?

Soul had his eyes open wide, staring up at the ceiling. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat, his lungs working overtime to keep him breathing though he no longer felt the air escaping his punctured lungs. His lungs worked just as they should, the panic and pain flooding through his veins the only cause of the ragged breathing.

The realization hit Maka as she watched him breathe effortlessly. The deal promised his life. Not his health, or that the wound he healed. Just his life. The wound wouldn't kill him, but Soul still had to suffer having it. Those goddamn demons.

Maka was helpless. She was trembling with pain, unarmed, and holding her bleeding best friend in her arms with the little strength she had. She couldn't help but let out another sob. But slowly, the anger within her began to boil and build. And build. Her teeth clenched, and her pupils contracted with utter rage. They had done this to them. Ragnorok and that worthless, evil weilder. Maka wanted to destroy them. Determination flooded her very being, making her shake with it's intensity. She wanted to run out there, find that bastard and beat them to death with her own two fists. It took all her will to force herself to will her energy into helping soul instead of punching the nearest wall. She lifted up Soul as quickly as she could, arms already aching as she sprinted as hard as she could to the back door, out of it, and down the alleyway. Her body screamed at her to stop, that it was too much, but she told it fuck you and only ran harder.

She was going to help Soul. She was going to help Soul if it tore her apart. Her lungs burned with every step she took, and her muscles felt like ripping apart, and to top it off her broken ribs haven't healed yet and slammed pain into her almost every moment. She didn't care. She couldn't care. For Soul's sake, she had to throw aside her pain and just go. The street was eerily empty, not even a single car speeding down the roads. The only light in the dark world around Maka came from the jarring, artificial streaks of white that came from the street lamps above her.

She suddenly felt Soul's body go limp, and for a moment she wondered if the deal somehow was false and he was dead.

' _No_ ,' she told herself. He's not dead. He passed out. He can't die. He's going to live. She had to repeat these things over and over to herself, her only comfort now.

The only place she could think to go was Marie's. It was just down the street, she could make it. If anyone could help her, it was Marie. She looked ahead, and the lights to Marie's shop were off.

 _'No_!' She screamed in her mind. She pushed her body past her limits and more, and saw a figure up ahead leaving the store. Marie, thank god. Maka mustered all her strength before screaming, "MARIE, HELP!!"

Marie snapped around, confused. Her expression immediately turned to horror upon seeing the state of two of her children figures, bleeding and crying. She ran over to them.

"Maka?! Soul?! What happened?!" She cried, kneeling to the ground with Maka, holding Soul's head gently.

"Please, Marie." Maka begged, new tears streaming down her ghostly pale cheeks. "Please help him."

 

* * *

 

Blackstar texted Soul for the eighth time in the past hour, still no response minutes later. He grumbled angrily and threw his phone on his bed. Soul had told him they would be watching their favorite video game live streamer together tonight, and he hadn't got online all night. He was currently home alone, his father out drinking. He called Tsubaki his roommate, which was kind of true, for he honestly stayed over at her apartment more than his own home. The reason being his father. So, they decided to not complicate things and just call each other roommates, and explain the jointed housing with his father if the situation ever came up. He did help with rent sometimes, and often pain for groceries, after all. He decided not to waste perfectly good time and dropped to the floor, starting to count push-ups. He'd been fighting and working out nearly his entire life, egged on heavily by his dad. Blackstar had to admit- he loved fighting, it was second nature to him. It gave him an upper hand, especially when he had to deal with assholes- or his dad when he got violent. He never really considered his father abusive, persay, he was just...violent. He defended himself flawlessly, of course, so Blackstar tried not to let his father's tendencies bother him. After all, he was much too important to worry about little things like his deadbeat dad.

"Stupid old man..." he grumbled. Blackstar's fuming, though mostly toward himself as he let his mind wander to his Pa, was interrupted by a loud bang and several small crashes coming from the living room.

'Speak of the devil and he doth appear.' Blackstar thought with an eye roll. He got up, mostly to get a head start on cleaning up whatever mess his pa had just caused. He pushed past his bedroom door, travelled down the hall and paused to see his father standing in the middle of the room.

He was covered in blood.

Blackstar froze, wide eyes staring at his father. Sure, sometimes he came home bloody from fistfights, but there wasn't a scratch on him, and the blood utterly covered him. His hands were especially crimson. He had never come home blatantly covered in someone else's blood before.

"What the hell, old man?!" He finally managed to tell out.

His father didn't respond, instead slowly raised his head. His eyes locked on Blackstar's, and they were red. Blood red. Then he smiled. Not a loving grin or a cocky smirk, but the kind of smile serial killers in horror movies wear as they revel in the suffering of their victims. Sharp, sharklike teeth erected from his gums where there used to be normal human teeth. The final thing Blackstar noticed was that his father's pupils seemed to be in the shape of a star, matching the tattoos in his father's and his own right shoulder.

Blackstar instinctively snapped into a defensive position. This was something out of a shitty horror movie. This couldn't be real. He didn't look human at all. He looked demonic.

Blackstar glanced behind his dad, seeing the door open. Even more blood splattered the ground, and in the darkness, he could see at least two people lying on the ground, lying in puddles of blood, presumably their own. Blackstar felt hot rage boil inside him. What had he done?

In a flash, his father bolted forward. He swiped his hand at Blackstar, which Blackstar Didn't bother to try to fully dodge.

He realized it was a mistake. He wasn't swinging his hand for no reason, for at the end of each finger were long, razor-sharp claws. He didn't realize this until he felt them rip through the front of his chest. Had he not stepped back, he would have definitely hit Blackstar's ribcage. Blood spurred from the cuts, and Blackstar clenched his teeth.

The way he could feel murderous intent radiating from his father struck a familiar cord with him. This monster, this demon, this evil something his father had become wasn't some stranger. No, this had been within him for a long time. Every time his father tried to hurt him or others, he could feel it. He felt it now. This monster was his father, and this monster was always inside his father. He didn't know what the hell made his father look like a monster, but he didn't have time to wonder.

Now was the time to fight.

His father slung back, claws readied for another slash. Blackstar caught his hands and drove his knee into Whitestar's gut, throwing him aside. "Listen, old man!! I don't know what the hell got into you, but I WILL defeat you!" He would defeat him for the people he hurt. Not just the ones who lay dead just outside their house on the street, but for everyone he'd hurt on a whim. His deep-rooted hatred for his father finally bubbled back into the surface of his mind, giving him the strength to throw a punch at Whitestar.

Whitestar caught it easily.

In a flash that was quicker than Blackstar could comprehend, Whitestar slammed an uppercut against Blackstar's chin, then drove his foot into his chest, sending him sprawling to the ground. The air was knocked out of him, replaced with pain. Before he knew it, his dad was stomping him into the ground with his heel, horrid smile never leaving his face. Blackstar screamed with rage, grabbing Whitestar's leg and tanking with all his might.

Whitestar tumbled forward, rolling back into a squatting position easily, but the action had given Blackstar enough time to get back on his feet. Blackstar's eyes burned with a determined glare. He wasn't going to lose. That word wasn't even in his vocabulary.

His father growled animalistically, suddenly going into rage-induced hysterics. Whitestar screamed. He ripped forward, slashing his claws wildly and snapping his jaws at Blackstar. His attacks were sloppy, almost desperate to kill, completely unlike the precise and brutal attacks he had grown to know his father had.

Blackstar dodged the chaotic attacks almost like they were his new second nature, seeing several opportunities to strike. His senses heightened, he waited for the perfect opportunity to show it's face. When it did, he mustered all his courage and pure willpower, drawing his fist back, and without a moment's hesitation, slammed it into Whitestar's cheek with every ounce of strength he held in his being.

There was a sickening crack, followed soon after by a burst of blood, and Whitestar practically flew across the room into the floor. His jaw was twisted to the side at an odd angle, his cheek being discolored red already. Blood dribbled from his father's open mouth. His eyes seemed to be pure white at this point, blank and surprised. Blackstar seemed surprised to, his punches had never done that much damage to anyone or anything before. Maybe he was getting stronger?

Blackstar panted, waiting for Whitestar to get up. When he didn't after several minutes, he leaned against a wall, catching his breath and finally soaking in the pain of his wounds.

"That sick bastard..." he growled, glancing at the bodies outside his door. He couldn't forgive Whitestar for this.

He stumbled to his room and snatched his phone, calling the police. He told them his father had gone crazy and hurt some people, and that he had knocked him out. The operator told him to stay on the line, but he ignored her and hung up. He didn't want to wait around and see his father dragged off in chains. He went outside, getting into his car, not even caring about the small bloodstains he left on everything. He than began his drive to the hospital, by himself. He turned on the radio, letting his mind sink away and his pace fade to the back of his mind as some trashy love song played over the speakers.

Eventually, the hospital came into view. It looked like it was a very busy night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Whitestar, you crazy bastard, you. We'll get back to Soul and Maka next chapter. The way I wrote this one was to get out important info for future chapters, especially in little details. Also yes, Crona has no defined gender in this, and I use They/Them pronouns.


	4. Hospitals are hell!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a more chill chapter- it'll get more exciting next chapter, promise!
> 
> More of a focus on Blackstar rate than Maka, (this story is about the main 3 miesters) so Kid will get a moment in the spotlight too!
> 
> Featuring: Worst dad, Gay Blackstar
> 
> Guest starring: Goth boi
> 
>  
> 
> Comments/Reviews/criticism is encouraged
> 
> (If I fuck up, tell me!)

Blackstar limped through the doors of the emergency room. His chest wounds have partially clotted by now, not bleeding as much as he expected, though the wounds burned. In fact, his whole body burned painfully, like there was fire nipping at his skin. He pressed his hands further against the wound, not finding it in himself to care much about the wounds. He was moved to the trauma ward, being sat on a hospital bed. His shirt was removed and he was given a white cloth to hold to his chest for now. Tonight seemed was chaotic and busy. Many nurses and doctors bustled about. The walls that were lined with hospital beds rarely did not have a patient lying in it- and not a single patient wasn't covered in blood.

 _'Well_ ,' Blackstar thought, _'that's kind of how hospitals are, isn't it?'_ Maybe it was just wishful thinking. Though, the nurses and doctors did seem oddly frantic, now that he was thinking about it. He visited the hospital often, and they were never quite like this. He shook his head, deciding not to worry about it.

He noticed bed next to him was free, the white, clean curtain between the beds pulled back. He then took to moving his eyes around the room. There were mostly people with wounds he couldn't tell the origin of, but there were a few unique cases. One lady had shards of glass sticking out of her shoulders- another boy had a knife lodged into his head, and was somehow conscious and speaking to a nurse. Most people, however, seemed to be clawed up, like some sort of wild animal attacked them, like a bear or a wolf. But that didn't make any sense, they were all right in the middle of a city.

His attention was caught when a dark-skinned nurse smoothly walked up to him. She introduced herself as Nygus, and without conversation, began treating his wounds. She cleaned and bandaged his chest, checking the bruises on his body. He winced on occasion. He found it to be extremely uneventful. Her piercing blue eyes focused on his rib cage, and she felt on the lowest bone, furrowing her brow.

"I can't tell if this is broken or not..." she mumbled, more to herself than Blackstar. She looked up at him. "I'm gonna send a doctor your way, you should lay down. He'll be right with you." Blackstar nodded, and she left.

He went back to watching people, noticing a girl with dirty blonde or maybe light brown hair that looked familiar- he leaned forward, wincing and saw that it was indeed Maka. She was hunched over someone, and judging by the bright orange of the person's wardrobe, he confirmed to himself was Soul. He wondered what happened to him and why- and if he would be okay.

'You get a pass for not texting me this time.' He grumbled to himself as he stared at Soul. If he hadn't just been beaten and attacked by his own monster of a father, and not in a hospital, he would have sprinted over and immediately seen for himself. But Blackstar really wasn't in the mood for being scolded by nurses and doctors- and, upon noticing Marie with Maka, he figured that he would be okay for now- especially because he was in a hospital. If his ribs weren't broken, he told himself he would go over there. After all, who wouldn't feel better in his presence? Just seeing his face would be enough to heal Soul of whatever ailed him!

It seemed Nygus wasn't going to return any time soon, so Blackstar decided to get the big problem out of the way.

He had to call Tsubaki.

He would either be met with heartbreakingly emotional worrying or terrifying scolding for being an idiot. He had to take his chances anyway, mostly because she deserved to know.

Despite getting into him for admittedly stupid things, Tsubaki was probably the nicest person he ever met. She was the human version of "meek is not weak". From the moment he met her, she proved how strong she really was. Her brother was in a coma due to a mysterious accident. An accident that hasn't been explained to this day, no less. He suddenly woke up one day while she was visiting, and apparently got violent. He had been screaming at her and trying to cut her with a scalpel he managed to get his hands on. She told him later that his eyes looked completely black, and when he saw him for himself, he saw that he also had black, discolored skin snaking all over his body. It almost looked like a tattoo or natural skin tone rather than a burn or something. It was in all honestly, scary. She had ran down the hall to escape him, and that's where they met.

Blackstar was there with a broken arm after a training session on a roof went wrong, but still defended Tsubaki the best he could. In the end, Tsubaki knocked him out with a swivel chair. It was one of the most epic moments of Blackstar's life. They've been inseparable ever since, always there for each other. He was there for her when her brother turned up missing a week later, and she was there for him for, well...everything.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, quickly finding Tsubaki's contact. He put the phone to his ear and waited. She answered in record time, even for her.

"Blackstar! Are you okay?! I saw the news, and.-"

"Tsu, I'm fine." He interrupted. "I can't believe you doubted me! Nothing can hurt me." He heard a sigh of relief on the other end.

"Oh, thank goodness..."

"I'm not surprised I got on the news so soon though, who wouldn't want to tell my story?" He bragged, grinning even though there was no one to see it.

Tsubaki paused. "Blackstar, what are you talking about? I saw on the news that people were attacking each other. What happened to you?"

"My dad attacked me. I didn't know that it happened to other people..." he trailed off.

"Apparently there's this... "Mass aggression". It's making people go crazy, but...nobody can really explain what happens when they go crazy...apparently they somehow get claws and sharp teeth and things like that. A lot of scientists are trying to figure it out."

"That's what happened to my dad too! He looked like a monster or a demon or something, it was insane!" He recalled the animalistic look in his father's eyes, and their red hue.

"Really? What happened, where's he now?"

"I don't know. I knocked him out and called the cops. I'm at the hospital right now. He got me a couple times."

"Are you okay?!" She asked worriedly.

"I told you, Tsu, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. But can you tell me more about the attacks and stuff?"

"All the people are either getting ripped apart by their teeth or clawed up, it's really horrible. They can't be reasoned with once they go crazy. It's only been happening in our city, too..."

"Just our luck." Blackstar scoffed sarcastically.

"I know," she sighed sadly. "The police are trying their best to capture all of them. There's currently twenty-three in custody...maybe one is your dad?"

"Yeah...probably." Blackstar watched as even more wounded people were carted into the hospital. One of them had even lost an arm. Blackstar's expression hardened. If he ever saw one of these psychos, he would definitely beat them to a pulp. He was going to help whomever he could. Especially if it was one of his friends.

"So...you're for sure okay?" Tsubaki asked gently after a moment.

"Yeah, I'm good." He affirmed.

"Well, I'm gonna call the rest of our friends to see if they're okay..."

"Soul and Maka are here at the hospital, don't bother calling them." Blackstar glanced at the two in question, Maka still hunched over Soul's body.

"What? Are they alright?" She sounded paranoid again.

"Soul doesn't look so good...I'm not sure about Maka. I can talk to them once I see the doc."

"A-Alright...do you happen to have Kid's number, by the way? I want to check on him too."

"Nah, but Liz probably does..." Blackstar scratched his nose. "Can you send his number to me once you get it too? Cause we're friends now and stuff..."

"Sure, Blackstar. Well...goodbye. Stay safe."

"You too. Call me if anything's wrong."

"I will. Goodbye, Blackstar."

"Bye." Blackstar pressed the red button on his screen, staring at his wallpaper. At least Tsubaki was okay. He couldn't be sure about Liz or Patty, or even Kid, but at least she was okay. His chest ached, partially from his wound and partially for the pain of knowing that at least one of his friends was greatly wounded. Soul was one of his best friends. He hoped he would end up alright, at least survive.

He had to be okay.

Blackstar would kick his ass if he wasn't.

Eventually, emphasis on eventually, a doctor came around to inspect Blackstar. He found that his ribs were not, in fact, broken, and Blackstar did not have to endure an X-ray. Thank God. They said that he should leave, and there's no real reason for him to stay, for none of his injuries were that severe. They had worse things to worry about anyway.

He practically leaped up, running over to Soul's hospital bed. He wasn't there, but Maka and Marie still were.

"Blackstar, what are you doing here?" Marie asked in surprise, seeming on the verge of tears. Her voice cracked.

"Where's Soul?" He immediately asked, not answering her question.

"H-He's getting surgery..." Marie managed to squeak.

Maka's eyes were red, as if she'd been crying. She probably was. She was covered in bruises and bandages, hair matted and messy. She looked like all the energy had been sucked out of her soul, leaving behind a tired, worn shell behind. He couldn't let her stay like that.

Blackstar grabbed her shoulder, smiling his trademark 'sort-of-not-cocky' grin. "Don't worry about Soul too much, Maks. He's tough, he'll be fine! And if he doesn't look so good..." Blackstar raises his fist. "I'll beat the health into him! So cheer up!"

Maka's lips tightened, so either she was trying to smile or was annoyed with him. Either way, it was an improvement from what else she could be feeling.

Maka shook her head, expression not brightening.

"C'mon. Believe in him. He'll be fine." Marie encouraged, though she didn't sound so sure herself.

Maka spoke for the first time. "I-I...I know." She croaked.

"That's the spirit!" He grinned wider. "Of course he'll be okay!"

He has to be.

He heard his phone ring in his pocket, chirping "All Star" by Smash Mouth. Blackstar didn't care what anyone said, he liked it unironically.

It was much too cheerful for the situation. He quickly pulls it out, checking the screen quickly.

Tsubaki had texted him:

_"Liz and Patty are at the hospital with Kid. They won't answer the phone, they just texted me. Apparently he got attacked too, have you seen them I’m worried."_

Blackstar immediately opened his phone and texted back.

 

_"no is he ok tho"_

_"I don't know that's why I'm worried"_

Blackstar bit his lip. _"I'll look for them"_

_"Thank you. Please text me if you see them."_

Blackstar put his phone back in his back pocket.

"Who was that?" Maka asked, seeming concerned.

"Tsubaki. She was worried about Liz and Patty and Kid. Apparently Kid got attacked too and they're all around here somewhere."

"Is he okay?" Maka immediately asked. She sounded incredibly worried, even though she barely knew him. But that's just how Maka was.

"We don't know. I'm gonna try to find them so I can find out." He stands up straighter.

"Alright, be careful." Marie told him. "Tell is how they are, when you find them..."

Blackstar nodded. He shoved his hands into his pockets, walking away.

He wondered the trauma ward, not even flinching at all of the blood and torn flesh. Those things didn't scare him, they couldn't. He'd seen plenty of people in pretty bad shape. Blood just...didn't bother him anymore. He saw many blonde women, but none were Liz or Patty. He didn't see a single person with hair nearly as pitch black as Kid's, or anyone with gorgeous golden eyes like his. No one in the building had flawless, porcelain skin like him, no matter how many times he scanned the clusters of people.

It took him ten minutes, but he finally spotted a flash of pitch black hair from across the room. He speedwalked over awkwardly, as he still had to avoid people. He finally rushed over, seeing Kid sitting on a metal bench, looking at the ground.

Blackstar slightly cringed at the state he was in. He had dark, discolored bruises all along his face, neck, and collarbone, the worst of which directly on his forehead. A bit of blood had been wiped from his brow, smearing his forehead red. His bottom lip was split and red, and of his eyes were swollen, almost closed, and would likely blacken. Apparently whatever, or whoever hit him and burst a blood vessel, because the white of his eye was a blood red. His hair was a bit messy, and blood was dripping from his slightly agape mouth, him holding a tissue right below it to try to catch the blood. He wasn't in a full suit anymore, but his white button-up and black jeans were disheveled. There were bloodstains along his shirt. He looked like he had been in a very bad fist fight, Blackstar should know. Looking down, he noticed his fingernails were bloody and his knuckles bruised. The two rings on each middle finger that he had when they first met as well were both speckled with drying blood. You'd think he'd take them off. The little silver skulls looked almost intimidating with the blood added to the dark, sunken eyes of the molding.

He quickly approached him, standing in front of where he sat. Kid slowly looked up, seeming to take a minute to recognize him. He blinked his uninjured eye.

"Hey." He simply said. His voice was lower than last time they spoke. Their eyes met.

"Hey..." Blackstar responded, not able to tear his eyes away. "Tsubaki was worried about you. She asked me to see if you were okay." He paused awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better, admittedly, but yes." He lisped ever so slightly, probably from pain in his mouth. He spat out a bit of blood into the tissue.

"You don't look so hot." Blackstar argued, frowning.

"Yeah, but that's unavoidable. I'm fine. It hurts and all, but it's fine." He insisted, wiping his reddened lip.

Blackstar crossed his arms. "Alright, so you won't mind if I show Tsubaki how you look?"

"Be my guest." He shrugged. He looked up, his pretty eyes apathetic.

Blackstar pulled out his phone. He snapped a quick picture of Kid and quickly sent it to Tsubaki with the message:  
 _"Found him. He says he's ok."_

Tsubaki took a few minutes to respond.

"Hope you'll save that forever and cherish it and what not." Kid sardonically snorted, which earned a hearty chuckle from Blackstar.

"As if." He looked back down at his phone with a grin, reading Tsubaki's new message.

_"thank you for finding him, though he doesn't look ok. Where's Liz and Patty?"_

"Hey, Kid." He addressed the dark boy, who's small smirk had fallen for his earlier joke.

"Mm?"

"Where's Liz and Patty?" He inquired. Might as well not waste time typing 'IDK'.

"I asked them to leave, in case something happened. They're at my house." He answered, spitting out a bit more of blood.

Blackstar texted Tsubaki what he said, glancing up at Kid. He had shut his lips tight. He thought for a moment. He sighed, sitting next to him on the bench and texting Maka.

_"Liz n pat left, so imma stay with kid is that ok? He's ok btw. beat up tho."_

Maka just responded with a simple, "okay." He swallowed. He couldn't really ever comprehend what Maka was feeling right now. Something that bad had never happened to anyone close to him.

Kid looked over questioningly, turning his head fully, for Blackstar had sat on his bad eye's side.

"I'm gonna sit with ya since your girls left. It's chaotic in here, y'know?" He said casually. At least he hoped it was casual.

"That's fine, I suppose. I do have one question though." He glances down at Blackstar's bare torso. "Why don't you have a shirt on?"

His cheeks burned a bit in embarrassment. Welp, he was an idiot. "Uh, my chest was getting bandaged and I never got my shirt back." "What, like what you see?" He joked, trying to recover from his embarrassment.

"I might, if I could. Unfortunately my eye is full of blood." He sarcastically replied.

"Use your other eye."

He raised an eyebrow and monotoned, "I would really rather not."

Blackstar laughed. "Your loss, man!"

Kid rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth barely turning up in a smile. "I feel more like I dodged a bullet." Blackstar chuckled again, and they both went quiet again. It was a little uncomfortable, and Blackstar shifted.

Blackstar slowly ran his eyes over Kid's injuries, not much else to look at. He rested his eyes on Kid's features, but quickly glanced away as Kid's good eye met his for a split second.

"So, uh." Blackstar began. "What exactly happened to you?"

Kid's shoulders tensed a bit, wetting his lips almost nervously. "I got attacked."

That didn't tell him much.

"When? Like, actually, what happened?"

Kid sighed. "I was outside my home, I got attacked, and so Liz and Patty drove me here." Kid didn't seem like he was going to go into detail any time soon.

"Was it one of those crazy guys that did it?" He asked. The image of his father's deranged eyes flashed in his mind.

Kid simply shrugged, answering with a soft, 'mhm'.

He decided to let it go, shaking his head a bit. If he wasn't going to tell, he couldn't make him. He was probably traumatized, or something. If Blackstar hadn't already seen some serious things in his life, he would have been traumatized, too. Kid didn't look or sound like the type to have seen enough things to be unbothered by being attacked. His mind was probably as delicate and fragile as he looked outwardly. They sat in silence once again, Blackstar staring at the black screen of his phone. He got an idea, and turned to Kid again.

"Hey, what's your number?" Kid raised an eyebrow once more. "Yknow, cause we're friends now. Right?" He grinned at Kid.

Despite his friendly smile, Blackstar was begging to himself that Kid wouldn't think he's creepy.

"Well, you're sitting with me in the hospital while I bleed, so that pretty much seals it." Kid smiled vaguely, and Blackstar's smile widened, trying to ignore the jolt of enchantment the sight sent through him. Kid’s smile seemed to have that effect on people. And, well...just Kid in general seemed to have that effect on people. Including Blackstar. Maybe even especially Blackstar.

Blackstar unlocked his phone, handing it to Kid. "Put yourself under whatever name you want. I don't really care." Kid nodded, tapping to the contacts and starting to punch himself in. Blackstar watched him closely, noticing how Kid seemed to pout in concentration, and he took his phone back when Kid offered it to him. He checked it, and Kid had put himself in as 'Kid Satshini'.

"Really? Just your name? You're one of those people, huh?"

"Well, if I put something ridiculous you might forget who it is." Kid reasoned, crossing his arms.

"I won't forget. At least put an emoji or some shit after it." He handed the phone back.

Kid's expression flattened. "I hate emojis, but fine. If I must."

"Dude, what kinda sociopath do you have to be to hate emojis?"

"If you ask me, it's the sociopaths who love emojis." Kid leaned down and scrolled through the emojis with vague disgust. He chose the skull, giving Blackstar his phone back.

"Better," he said with a nod. He saved the contact. His chest fluttered a bit as he gazed at the new contact. He read it over again. "Satshini?" He asked. "Cool last name. Is that Japanese or something?"

Kid nodded. "Something like that, I don't actually know. Thanks, though." They met each other's eyes once again, Blackstar's roaring green locking onto two delicate pools of honey.

"So what's with your first name? It's fucking weird. Like, on your birth certificate it says Kid?" He gestured with his hands on that last word.

"Yes, I suppose. It's my real name and everything." Kid met his eyes again. Blackstar stared into them.

"Dude, who even were your folks to name you that?" He snickered. "Did your parents hate you or something?" He joked.

"Knowing me, probably yes." He responded, smirking slightly. "I'm a trash can."

Blackstar laughed, "oh, you're not hat unbearable. So how's your folks now? They can't be worse than my pa, he's the one that attacked me and sent me to this shithole."

"My father's...away. He's great. And...I don't have a mom." He explained, his smile falling.

"Oh. Sorry." He apologized quickly, guilt pricking at his chest. "I didn't..."

Kid cut off his apology. "No, it's fine, it doesn't really bother me." He told Blackstar, expression soft and comforting. "I never even saw her, so I'm not really emotionally attached. It's really okay."

Blackstar nodded slowly. He felt kind of bad for Kid, but he didn't just want to offer pity. "Alright, I just didn't want to offend. I kinda know how you feel, my mom left when I was a tyke. Never saw her again." That wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't technically a lie. She did leave, but only after his father and her got in a brutal fist fight. He ripped out a chunk of her hair and she clawed him across the face. If he was honest, he didn't root for either of them to win. If his memory serves, then he was only six when it happened.

"I'm sorry about that." He looked a bit sympathetic.

"It's okay, she was a bitch anyway." Blackstar smirked a bit. He didn't miss her. She got into trouble with the law a lot, anyway. The day she left, despite all the chaos, was a good day for him. She wasn't exactly a kind mother.

Kid tried to smile. "I see. Well, I'm not sorry then."

Blackstar laughed loudly, holding his chest. "Me neither, shit!!" He cackled for a bit more, before sighing, grinning wide. Usually dark human and sarcasm wasn't his thing, but Kid...

"On the topic of names, I'm hoping your violent dad and bitch mom didn't actually name you 'Blackstar'." He made finger quotations as he said his name.

"I wish, it's way cooler than my real name. I usually go by Blake if I need a real name."

"Why Blake? And it's really not that cool."

"I dunno, I just like it." Blackstar glared dramatically. "First of all, yes it is, and second of all, my real name is lame. Don't make me say it." Blackstar cringed.

"Well now that you say that, I wanna know." He smiles mischievously. "It's only fair."

Blackstar shook his head violently.   
"Aw, come on, please? For me?" He spoke in a mock-begging voice, smiling innocently.

He groaned loudly. "Ugh! Fine!" He paused for a few moments, bracing himself. "It's Blackwell." He always hated his name with the passion of one thousand sobs.

"That's not so bad." Kid looked disappointed. "I was ready to make fun of you and everything."

"Dude, yes it is. I sound like some stuck up rich kid or something. It's not cool in the slightest!"

"As a rich kid, I take offense to that." He exaggerated a pout, making his voice overly dramatic.

Blackstar chortled. Kid didn't chuckle, but still smiled. Blackstar just now noticed that Kid had long let the bloody tissue he held drop, seeming more relaxed. He didn't realize until now how tense he seemed around people. He had seen it back when he first saw Kid.

Their little moment was interrupted by a familiar dark-skinned woman stepping in front of them. They both looked up.

"Has anyone given you treatment?" She asked Kid. "You sure don't look it."

Kid shook his head, and as if on cue, he brought up his hand and spat out a bit of blood into his now-soaked tissue.

"Hm," She turned to Blackstar. "I thought we advised you leave." She glared slightly.

"I'm with my bro here." He gestured to Kid. "Can't just leave him in a hospital alone with potentially crazy people."

"Well, regardless, we need to get you treated. Follow me, please." She helped Kid stand, leading the two to a nearby hospital bed. Blackstar noticed Kid was limping.

Kid sat on the hospital bed, and Blackstar backed off as Nygus checked him out. She made several trips away to get needed supplies, and removed his shirt at one point to get a better look at the bruises along his body. He had an attractive slim figure, though spotted with dark bruises. The worst were along his stomach, where nearly his entire lower torso was a discolored purple, red, or sickly yellowish. Nygus furrowed her brow.

"What happened here? These are pretty bad." Her icy blue eyes stared up at his apathetic expression.

Kid gave the same simple answer as before. "I got attacked."

"Who attacked you? One of those...people?" They all knew what she meant. It was almost depressing how a outbreak of insanity had already gained unspoken understanding between strangers.

He hesitated. "Yeah." Kid glanced away for a moment.

She seemed suspicious. "That's strange, because the patients who were attacked by those people came in with claw marks and bites, not severe bruising. You're not cut or bit at all." She looked up with a firm look. "So I'll ask again, who attacked you?"

"I don't see what the identity of the person has to do with my injuries." He narrowed his good eye ever so slightly, his other being already covered with gauze and medical tape.

"It would be beneficial." She began wiping down any abrasions he had with some disinfectant.

"Sorry, but I really would rather not." Kid kept his expression blank.

Nygus sighed, simply going back to focusing on her work. "If you're going to be that way, I can't really make you tell me. But when it comes to your friends and family, they would want to know. They deserve to know what's going on with you."

Kid's lips tightened.

Blackstar glanced away. He hadn't really thought about it before much, but now...

Now he was curious. And maybe a bit worried.

* * *

 

  
Kid eventually got patched up by Nygus and re-dressed, though his clothes were still bloody. Most of the blood had now dried into a sick, crusty brown color. Blackstar had led him to Maka and Marie silently. Maka had told them that Soul was attacked, like most of the people in the hospital, and she had tried to fight the thing off, but failed. Kid was sympathetic, apologizing for not being able to somehow help. Marie tried to comfort him, but he remained a bit gloomy. Giving the best of wishes to Soul, Kid joined them. Now, they all chatted quietly, say for Blackstar, who was naturally loud, while sitting on what was Soul's bed in the Trauma Ward. Blackstar was the only one who tried to keep cheerful.

"Hey, Kid!" He had joked. "You and Marie match now, with your whole eye-patch thing!" Marie had given him a soft giggle, while Kid's expression didn't change. After that, even Blackstar partook in the somberness of the situation. He would much rather see everyone smile again.

They waited and waited for news on Soul's condition.

After an hour of waiting, a doctor had lead them to Soul's hospital room. Maka had assaulted the doctor with questions, he barely had time to answer them all.

Once they got inside, Maka immediately screamed Soul's name.

"SOUL!" She sprinted to his side, grabbing his hand in an iron grip. Soul was barely conscious, but somehow had the energy to crack a toothy grin.

"Hey, Maka." He croaked, voice hoarse. "Miss me?"

Maka laughed through her new tears, relief flooding over her entire body. He was okay. Soul was okay. He was safe, and patched up, and okay. She sobbed, and not even she knew if she was crying from happiness Soul was okay, or crying because of how scared she had been.

Marie calmly approached her, standing beside the girl and rubbing her back in a motherly, comforting way. She whispered to her. "It's alright now."

Maka had broke, hugging Soul tightly from where he lay. "I was s-so worried! Oh thank god you're okay!!"

Soul grunted, coughing. He patted her back. "Ow." His smile was happy.

Blackstar and Kid smiled at watching their reunion, Maka and Soul laughing together happily, Maka having released him. They looked so happy, and the air of a deep, trusting bond filled the room. Marie smiled at Maka, and Kid forgot the ache in his body for a moment.

They hugged again, and it felt like it was going to be okay. 

* * *

  
Kid groaned loudly in frustration, causing passerbys in the hospital hall to look at him questioningly. He sheepishly waved his hand in apology. He'd called Liz eight times in a row, and that was his limit. He sighed. He really and truly did not want to walk all the way back home with all of those Demon things running around, but...

"Hey." His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar energetic voice.

"Hey, Blackstar." He responded, blinking. He thought Blackstar went home. He glanced at the tattoo on Blackstar's right shoulder, then his bare chest. Apparently he hadn't gotten his shirt back. He tore his eyes away.

 _"Stop staring, he'll notice,"_ he told himself harshly.

"What's up? I heard you whining a mile away." Blackstar grinned cockily.

Kid frowned. "I wasn't whining, I was upset because Liz isn't answering her phone and she's my only ride home."

"I can take you!" Blackstar said quickly. "After all, who wouldn't want a ride in the great Blackstar's car?!"

Kid couldn't help but smirk. "Never say that again, it makes you sound like you're about to abduct me."

Blackstar's face lit up. "Don't you mean...KIDnap you?!" He laughed loudly at himself, throwing his head back.

Kid resisted the urge to punch him, eye twitching. "Let's just go." He walked past Blackstar, who seemed shocked, but quickly caught up.

Once in the parking lot, Blackstar hopped into the driver's side, Kid taking a seat next to him in the passenger's side. He buckled himself in.

"Where to?" Blackstar asked, starting up the engine.

"I'll lead you as I go." Blackstar nodded, and they were off. Kid guided him as they flew through the streets, Kid staring out the window.

His whole body ached, and his sight was blurry and flat due to his bad eye being covered. His stomach throbbed, and it felt like blood sloshed around in his insides, just waiting to be coughed up. Kid bit his tongue. He decided possibly giving himself motion sickness by watching the street lamps rush by was a bad idea, and instead turned away. His eyes fell on Blackstar's right shoulder again. The obvious asymmetry got on his nerves, he couldn't stop looking at it. That, and, the more obvious reason to him. The simple star tattoo didn't seem like anything special, but...

"Hey, Kid? Can I ask you something?" Blackstar broke the silence. His face seemed a bit flushed and Kid cocked his head.

"You just did. But I assume you meant after that. So yes, you can." Kid was admittedly curious, but it was always these kind of questions that made Kid fill with dread.

"So, um..." Blackstar seemed unconfident for once. Kid was taken aback by this. He only just became a friend of his, and even he knew that Blackstar wasn't the nervous type.

"Yeah?" He urged.

"Are you single?" Blackstar looked over at Kid, whose eyes were now wide in shock.

...single? Him? Of course he was single, why would someone date him? A better question was why Blackstar would care.

"I..yes, I am, actually. Can I ask why?" Kid looked utterly confused.

Blackstar chuckled suddenly, only adding to Kid's confusion. "Damn, you're dense."

Kid poured. "What do you mean?"

"Just forget it, man." Blackstar was still grinning, but he shook his head. "Not important."

Kid grumbled, looking away once more. "Fine."

A long silence filled the vehicle before Blackstar broke it once again. He seemed to have made a habit out of it, Kid thought to himself.

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"You might as well," Kid grumbled.

"Can you tell me what actually happened to you?" His voice was suddenly more serious.

Kid felt his body tense uncontrollably, his fingertips burning. "I..." he tried to speak. He thought it over. They were alone, and though Blackstar was a loudmouth at times, he just didn't see Blackstar going out and yelling to the world what he had said. He couldn't figure out anything significant from what he told him, right? Besides, despite not knowing Blackstar well...he felt that he deserved to know.

"Yes... I can." Blackstar looked interested, gesturing for him to go on.

"I had a..." he looked for the right word. "Disagreement..." he settled on, "with my older brother, Asura. I'm...not capable of self defense, and my brother is much stronger than I am." His voice shook a small bit near the end.

Blackstar stared out the windshield. "...you two had a disagreement, and so he beat you up?"

"Essentially. That's just the way he is." It always had been.

"So he's done this before?" Kid could sense anger radiating off the blue-haired boy.

"Yes." He said casually, expression the exact same. Why was he getting so angry? Kid just couldn't comprehend why he cared. Especially about something like him.

"So he abuses you?" Blackstar looks over, green eyes flaring with rage.

Kid was dumbfounded. Some people had jumped to that conclusion before, yes, but no one had just outright said it. "Wh...What?" Was all he could manage.

"I'm asking if he's abusing you." His voice was stone sturdy, with the welling anger of a raging volcano, ready to destroy.

"No! Why would he? Just because we get into fights doesn't me-"

Blackstar cut him off by shouting, "You're not FIGHTING! You said you can't fight back, and he's clearly hurting you!!"

"It's not that simple, you don't understand!" Kid retorted, matching his volume. "You're not the one who gets to decide that!"

"And what if YOU refuse to?!" He screamed.

"It doesn't- Watch the road, asshole!!" He screeched, Blackstar veering to miss a car that had attempted to pass them, thankfully not hitting anything. They got an angry honk from the other driver. Blackstar honked back, hitting the steering wheel almost violently.

Kid sighed as the two of them grew quiet again. "Look, if I thought things were like that, or will be like that, I'll get help. Okay? But believe me, if he was just outright...abusing...me, I wouldn't let him. He's a dick sometimes, but he wouldn't..." he doesn't want to say the word again. "Do you understand?" He glanced up at Blackstar again, who was staring out the windshield, not really seeing what was in front of them, he was too riddled with emotion. He didn't know Kid well, but he was his friend now, and he always had a strong sense of justice. Kid could deduce that easily.

"Fine. But I officially don't like your brother. If you two ever get in a fight again, you just call me and I'll bust his head wide open!" Blackstar's grin finally, mercifully returned. Kid smiles gently.

"Deal." Kid could definitely get behind that.

They finally made it to Kid's home, which was quite large, a manor in fact, in a semi-gothic style. The whole house was white, black, and the roof was shingled in fading red. There was a quite tall, black metal fence surrounding the property. Blackstar went slack-jawed.

"Damn, you really are a rich boy..."

Kid smirked, opening the car door and stepping out. "I told you so, didn't I?" Kid stepped away, turning towards his house. He briefly looked back to say, "Text me sometime."

He then walked to his front door without another word, leaving the entranced Blackstar staring at him as they entered the heavy wooden doors of the dark manor.


	5. Demon hunters?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly a kind of chill chapter.
> 
> Comments/reviews/crit is encouraged. Tell me if I fuck up.

"DAMN, HER CHEEKBONES ARE DEEPER THAN HER INSECURITIES!" Blackstar cackled, throwing his head back in sadistic joy as he laughed.

Soul echoed his laughter, looking back up at the small T.V. "That's so cold, man. But you're not wrong." He glanced at Maka, who was glaring in disapproval. He grinned mischievously. "She has more plastic in her boobs than all the plastic in her trash can she calls a house."

"Nah, I feel like she would live in a recycling bin." Blackstar replied casually.

Soul nodded in agreement. "True, true."

"You guys are awful." Maka grumbled, pouting softly. "You've been doing nothing but talking bad about random people on T.V for the past five days."

"What else is there to do? They only have like, three different shows and they're all the same episode." Soul turns to her.

"You don't have to make fun of them."

"Yeah, but it's way more fun!" Blackstar pipes up.

Maka huffs. Tsubaki turns to Maka from her seat in the corner, smiling nervously.

"They can't hear them, don't worry, I think it's good they have their heads up." Blackstar smiles at her widely.

Maka relented, burying her nose back into her book. "Fine, do what you want." She paused, as if thinking. "Yknow, Kid never does this stuff like you boys."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blackstar shot a glare at her, though he still grinned.

"Oh, nothing." Maka waved a hand. She didn't tear her face away from her book, hiding her small, mischievous smile.

"What are we talking about?" A new voice cut in.

Everyone turned their head to see Kid leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. His eye no longer had a patch, though it was half-shut and bruised, the whites of his eyes a fading pink. They greeted him in unison, and he stepped inside the small hospital room, followed closely by the Thomson sisters.

"Hiya, guys!!" Patty cried happily, waving wildly. She flew over to Soul's hospital bed and plopped stomach first onto it. "Hello, recovery-boy!!"

"Recovery-boy?" Liz asked, pulling her sister off of Soul's bed by the back of her shirt.

"It's like birthday boy!" She happily replied, standing on her own.

Kid rolled his eyes. He sat on the edge of Soul's bed, glancing at him. "So how are you doing, recovery-boy?" He asked casually, causing Patty to gasp happily and Blackstar to chuckle.

Soul also chuckled, sitting up straighter. "This recovery-boy is doing a lot of recovering."

"He means good." Maka clarified, finally putting down his book.

"Well, that is good. A sudden wound like that...can't imagine what it's like." Kid glanced out the window.

"It sucks."

Kid smirked humorously. "Naturally."

Blackstar stood. "At least he's not being a grumpy ass about it like he was, uh, I dunno, all of last week?" He shot an accusing glance as he grinned at Soul.

"If you woke up as had a giant slash on your body, you'd be grumpy too, asshole."

"No I wouldn't, because I'd never let that happen, I'm not as weak as you!!"

Tsubaki looked extremely disapproving. Blackstar faltered. "Though, even the strongest people seem weak compared to me!" Well, that was the Blackstar way of saying; "You're not weak, Soul." Tsubaki decided to take it, her expression softening.

Kid scoffed. "That's why you got yourself handed to you last week."

Blackstar pointed straight at Kid. "First of all, it's 'ass handed to you', and that doesn't count! He was all possessed and shit!"

"Excuses, excuses." Soul teased.

Liz crossed her arms, almost seeming to hug herself. "Speaking of...did anyone ever find out what happened to all those crazy people?"

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Soul pressed his lips shut, Blackstar glared at the ground, Tsubaki just looked nervous, and Kid glanced at each of them anxiously. Everyone seemed tense, say for Patty, who simply looked around at their expressions curiously.

Maka was the first one to speak. "Well...there are theories...apparently all of the...effected spoke about demons and 'deals'. The main explanation right now is that they all made deals with the devil in exchange for power...and it made them demons." Judging by the descriptions, the behavior, and the sudden outbreak, Maka knew that this was, in fact, the real explanation. Well, except that they made deals with demons, and not the devil. 'The Devil', more commonly known as the King of Hell among angels and demons, was a recluse, and probably didn't even have the ability to make deals. But, humans seemed to like blaming him for many things, so he was the easiest to pretend to point the finger at.

"That's ridiculous, they're mad." Kid frowned, crossing his arms again. "There's no such thing. It's probably a mass mania."

"A mass mania wouldn't really explain all the claws and red eyes and shit." Soul countered. "That's pretty demonic if you ask me."

Blackstar nodded in agreement. "I thought my Pa looked like a demon. I mean, I don't believe in that stuff, but he totally looked like a demon if they were real."

"Well there has to be an actually logical explanation, and not just demons." Kid argued, standing. "I mean, if there is somehow demons and otherwise running around, we're screwed." Kid dropped his arms to his sides, watching everyone's reactions.

"Maybe humans finally pissed off Satan enough!" Patty said with a giggle, seeming happy despite the dark subject matter.

Blackstar laughed, "I wouldn't be surprised! Humans suck!"

"True." Said Soul.

Kid nodded. "At least we can agree on that."

Maka also nodded. "For sure. Humans ruin literally everything."

Both Patty and Blackstar laughed, along with a grin from Soul.

"Yeah, we all suck." He drawled.

Tsubaki interjected, though quietly. "I think humans can be the kindest creatures, too."

"Yeah. Maybe." Maka said immediately, lifting her legs up to join her on top of her chair. Humans really were something. She'd met the most kind and evil creatures in her time, both of which were usually human.

Kid sighed lowly, finding a nearby wall to lean against. "I will never understand people."

"Me neither."

Maka couldn't help but see the irony.

"Alright!!" Blackstar suddenly boomed, jumping up on the bed, causing everyone, say for Kid, to jump in surprise. "Enough depressing shit! Let's talk about something WAY better and WAY less depressing!" He paused for dramatic effect, though no one was really excited to hear his answer.

Well, except for Patty. "OOH, OOH, IS IT CHRISTMAS?! THE LAUGHTER OF CHILDREN?! SMALL BABY ANIMALS?!" She was practically jumping up and down.

Blackstar pointed at her strongly, wide grin. He gave a single chuckle. "No!"

Patty pouted. "Oh."

"ITS ME!" He yelled, pointing to himself with both thumbs.

"How did I see that coming?" Kid mumbled lowly.

Maka giggled at the obvious sarcasm.

Blackstar jumped down from the bed, hitting the floor as loudly as possible. "Probably because you're secretly my number one fan!!" He then pointed accusingly at Kid, who's dumbfounded and utterly irritated expression caused everyone to laugh.

"...no offense Blackstar..." he began after recoiling from the shock, "I would sell you to Satan himself for half of a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich if I had the chance."

Blackstar looked angry, and everyone chuckled out again. "Hah! I'm worth more than that! In fact, I'm priceless!" He proudly puffed up his chest.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Kid rolled his eyes, scowling.

"Y'know, you're really starting to get on my nerves! You must clearly still be blind in that fucked up eye of yours, because only a blind man couldn't see how awesomely amazing I am!"

"Well, I say the blind man is more lucky than me. He doesn't have to fucking look at you." The two of them glared at each other for almost a solid minute.

Tsubaki had to get up and try to sway Blackstar to calm down, who has now apparently made it his mission to get Kid to take what he said back, who obviously wasn't going to.

Maka giggled softly again, watching the bickering and nervous, motherly pleads for peace from Tsubaki. The two boys didn't really seem mad at each other, in fact, they had both begun to grin at each other, more aggressively playful than anything. She knew that Blackstar couldn't be offended by anything anyway, so he was clearly just putting on a show.

She glanced at Soul, who was smiling and shaking his head. Then she moved to Liz and Patty, who were laughing to each other, watching the conflict between Kid and Blackstar with amusement.

She was glad things were a little less depressing. They were just seven friends looking out for each other.

The only thing that bothered her was the suffocating feeling she was being watched.

 

* * *

 

 

Maka couldn't help but smile as she pushed Soul along in his wheelchair, nearer and nearer to the front doors.

She was smiling, but she was still incredibly anxious. Humans were so fragile. "You know not to do anything too strenuous, right?"

"Yeah, you've only told me, uh, I dunno, a million times?"

"I'm just worried about you, okay?"

"Maka, the worst that could happen would probably be that demon showing up again, and that's not gonna. I can handle a little bit of walking. I'm a big boy, I tie my own shoes and everything."

Maka sighed exasperatedly. "I know you can." She tried to joke, "but you know you really shouldn't talk about the thing in public."

"No one's even near us, and besides, who's listening? I'm just being realistic."

"Let's just go over this at home, okay? This is supposed to be a good moment, right?" She offered a small smile.

He returned the smile. "Yeah. Sorry."

She stopped pushing him along about eight feet from the front door, stepping in front of him. "Well, you ready to go home, Soul?" She held out her hand. Home. Once that word was strange for her to utter, for the land in the clouds was her home for a long while. But now? Earth was her home. Being with her friends, being with Soul...that was home.

He grinned wide, taking her hand. Their hands locked together, Maka pulling Soul to his feet.

He stumbled at first, but soon stood up straight, proudly. "Yeah. Of course I am. I miss the damn trash hole."

Maka laughed, filled with actual happiness, something she hadn't really felt since the day Soul got hurt. Even the good moments, laughing with her friends, seeing them all sleeping wherever they could in Soul's hospital room until they were inevitably kicked out, seeing Soul smile, were clouded by guilt. By shame, sorrow. She had let her best friend get hurt, and now, without her weapon, she was helpless to really protect him. But he was okay. He was okay, and smiling and for god's sake walking, and it felt like everything was going to be okay. They were going to go home.

As long as she still had her home, her friends, and Soul...well, Maka knew that it would be alright.

Soul slung his arm around her shoulder as her laughter died down, clumsily stumbling out the front door.

Neither of them noticed, Hell, even could notice the sickly yellow-red eyes watching them through blonde locks.

Medusa kept her head down, pretending to focus on the documents in her hands, as she watched the pair of merry friends leave the hospital. She could sense the angel's soul, even as she walked farther and farther away.

She could feel it in her very being, so tangent she could smell it. It stung in a strangely sweet way in her nostrils, and what she could only describe as the purity of the color white itself had become a feeling, an indescribable sensation that choked down her throat, down to her chest. This angel had a very strong soul, that was for certain. Though, admittedly she did not need to sense her soul at all right now to know exactly where they were,

She couldn't keep the small smirk off of her lips as she casually set her documents down, telling her 'coworker' that she was taking a break. She placed her hands into the pockets of her labcoat, thumbing the empty syringe that had previously held black blood.

It was unbelievably easy to sneak into Soul's room at night, and even easier to plunge the needle into his arm and inject the dark substance into him. He didn't even stir in his sleep, she had noted. With the blood in his system, she could always know where Soul went. When she focused, she could even feel the blood pulsing through his veins, feel his heartbeat along her own skin. Black blood was her own creation, and therefore it belonged to her and her only, giving her a free access to one's very soul.

Feeding off of soul wavelengths were not uncommon for demons, in fact, it was the only real way to regain energy. Typically demons can only feed off the wavelengths created when a soul is in distress. Angels could do similar, except they could only feed off positive emotions. Medusa did not envy having to live off of such rancid happiness for her entire existence, the mere thought disgusting her. As the years went by, a loophole was found that made feeding much easier. If an angel or demon created an artificial being of their kind with their own blood, they could feed off of that soul until it died. Truthfully, if this didn't happen, artificial demons and angels would be much less common.

Though the black blood did not contain any of Medusa's blood, she still found it surprisingly effective when injected into Soul. She had her suspicions, but would soon confirm or invalidate her theory. The most logical explanation, was clear to her.

Soul was most likely already an artificial demon.

Even before Medusa got to him, he would be left vulnerable to demon blood, more so than a human, and it would explain his rather strange appearance. She was surprised she didn't notice the tinge of hot, almost spicy feeling she got when she focused on his soul, the feeling greatly resembling that of a pure-blooded demon.

Later that night, as she ran his red blood, not yet tainted by black, through countless tests, she finally got the truth.

She smiled. She was never one to make a bad assumption. This time was no different.

She had a lot of research to do.

* * *

 

  
Crona had been curled up in a corner, in fact, the corner of her mother's laboratory, not even having the energy to lift their head and watch their mother work.

They had seen so much violence in their life, so much blood. Red plagued every thought in their head, matching perfectly with the hell that resided there.

So why, they wondered, why did seeing that boy's blood bother them so much?

Guilt creeped into their veins, pricking and piercing like growing vines of thorns, black as their own blood. They haven't felt real guilt in so long. So why...? Why did seeing that angel cry hurt them, made their soul ache? Why were they hurting? They had no bruises, no cuts, but oh god, it still ached deep inside.

"Crona."

They slowly lifted their head, which almost seemed to be a thousand pounds, their blank, dark eyes meeting the slits of their mothers'.

"We're going to improve you. Stand up, I have something for you."

Crona felt deep dread tie together their innards, but they obeyed automatically. Good children always listened to their mothers.

They were lead to a rusting operating table, one they had not donned in years, but they definitely did not miss it. They sat on the edge, eyes locked with the wooden floor.

Medusa took one of their arms, riding up their long sleeves. She pressed the end of a modified syringe she had made herself against the inside of Crona's arm, right where their forearm and bicep met.

The syringe's needle was shot forward with great mechanical strength, piercing their veins before the blood within them could even begin to harden.

"This is curtsey of that angel. Without her, you would never have been able to receive this upgrade. Angels aren't so useless after all, hm?"

Crona didn't respond. The liquid that oozed into them was shiny, metallic, almost like mercury.

They panted as they felt the liquid seep into their arm, burning worse than any fire could.

They screamed, and Medusa didn't stop.

* * *

 

"Jesus, Joseph and Mary." Blackstar whispered lowly, staring at the long, shining blade than had embedded itself into the brick beside him, just mere centimeters from piercing his skull.

He was walking to Soul's and Maka's, planning to surprise them with a movie night with snacks. His cheap, plastic shopping bag full of movies, candy, and chips had fallen to the ground just seconds before.

His body reflectively froze, overtaking the rational, trained part of his kind telling him to fight.

Upon closer inspection, the blade was clearly a Japanese traditional Katana. What appeared to be Latin words was carved into the hilt, though he had absolutely no idea what it said.

"You, there, with the blue hair. You're star clan, aren't you?" A low, powerful voice overtook Blackstar's mind. He whipped his head in the direction of the sound.

The man was tall, grayish-blonde hair falling past his shoulders and whisking in the gentle wind of the cold night. His eyes were fierce, yet strangely calm.

Blackstar felt like he already knew him, like he was family, or a close friend. His very soul seemed to be magnetized to the man, who did not seem to bear any affection for him. His body betrayed his mind and took a step towards his attacker.

"Star Clan? Why would someone as great as me even need a clan?" He spat, "I don't know what you're talking about, old man, but you've got some nerve."

"I suppose I shouldn't have asked. I already know you are Star Clan, judging by that tattoo on your shoulder alone."

Blackstar clapped his hand over the aforementioned star symbol. He had been born with it, at least, he had always had it. No one believed him when he told them. "What are you talking about?"

The man shook his head, reaching to his back. There laid a giant, overly large metal sheath holding dozens of katanas. The man drew a single sword. "You don't even know?"

"Know what?! Start making sense, old man!" Blackstar shouted. He never knew anything about his heritage, his father never once even tried to tell him, it had deeply frustrated him for too long. Just another thing to hate about his father.

"The Star Clan was a group of demon hunters, all connected by blood. For years they worked to cleanse the world of demons, and after centuries, their very souls were preordained to slay demons, like mine is as well." He gave Blackstar no time to think before continuing, "but in the end, they all followed the path of the demon, the very thing they had first sought to fight. Your father was the second to last member to die. You're the only one left, and I'm here to stop the madness before it happens. I am the demon hunter Mifune."

Blackstar's roaring green eyes widened. "What did you say about him?" At first his voice was shocked, almost fragile, but he then broke out into a furious scream. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Your father is dead, if that's what you mean. I found him attacking an innocent human, so I fought with him. He inevitably lost-" he was cut off by a wild scream, and Blackstar charging at him, intending to punch him.

He missed by a long shot, Mifune simply throwing him against the nearest concrete wall.

Blackstar looked up. "You killed him." He never liked his father, that much is true, but it couldn't stop the rage that came with knowing that the only real family he had was gone.

"I did. He gave up his humanity for power to a demon. There was no saving him."

"You expect me to believe that crap?! Demons are fake, asshole! Fictional shit that people make up to scare people into being a good person!"

"They are all too real. What did you think happened to your father? Whitestar was never the most stable of people, and with this mass appearance of demons recently, it's no surprise he gave in. You haven't seen one because I've been working day and night to keep this streets rid of them." He pointed his shiny blade at Blackstar. "You haven't been corrupted yet. You're still close to human. You at least have humanity. Don't be stupid. Don't follow the path of the demon."

"What do you mean 'close to?'" Blackstar spat.

"You're not all human with that demon hunter blood inside of you. Your very soul is made to reject demons. You have that tattoo- that glamour, and it's clear you have no idea how to use it. You're not a human Blackstar. You and I are not human." He paused, staring at the confused boy. "But that doesn't mean you have to become a demon." He sheathed his katana, turning away and beginning to walk away. "I expected you to be more...well informed. For now, I have no reason to kill you. But if I even suspect you're following the path of the demon..." the turns back, shooting a stony glare at the boy as he slowly stood. "I will."

Blackstar watched him walk. Normally, he would have ran after him, demanded he explain everything, but even Blackstar had his limits. His mind was too fogged to even behind to run. For the longest time, he simply stood there, his hand automatically holding his tattoo.

He stared off into space, his peripheral vision blurring and warping.

He didn't even bother picking up the bag full of things he had originally gotten for Soul, as he walked away, pulling out his phone to call whoever he could to see who was actually awake to give him a ride home. He checked the time.

1:37. Blackstar cursed. Time seemed to speed. How long had he been standing there, just trying to process this? For one, Tsubaki was definitely not awake. He decided to just call everyone that was in-town on his contacts until someone picked up.

He bit his lip almost thirty minutes later, nearly his entire contact list ruled out. He was almost ready to give up, having just given up on calling his high school best friend, Kilik. He'd skipped the name before. Kid's contact. He sighed, tapping his name.

He actually picked up, on the second ring too. "Blackstar, it's late. Why are you calling me?" Kid did not seem pleased, though he didn't seem to be at all sleepy either.

"Why are you awake?"

Kid clicked his tongue. "Touché. What do you want?"

"I'm somewhere downtown by myself and I don't have a car. I honestly can't be bothered to walk home so I need a ride."

"I thought you were supposed to be the workout junkie."

"Well, I am, but...some weird shit happened and I'm kinda freaked out."

Kid paused. "What kind of weird stuff?"

"If you come pick me up I'll tell you. You have a car, right?"

"Yeah." Blackstar could hear faint footsteps and a door close. "I'll be right over there. Where in downtown are you?"

"By the gas station that happens to be next to a fireworks warehouse."

"Is that even legal?"

"It's legal in like, Kansas, but probably not here. Can you imagine the fucking possibilities?" He grinned to himself.

"I think I know where you're talking about, but just in case, you might want to get comfortable." Kid seemed uneager to answer Blackstar's question.

Blackstar sat down on a nearby curb. "Great. It's cold tonight, can you like, hurry?"

"I can not show up at all if you want to be a brat." He almost sounded like a mother scolding her child, and he could practically hear the scowl Kid surely had.

"Just show up, will you?"

"Fine, hang tight." Kid then rudely hung up, causing Blackstar to scoff.

He sat there for a while, finally working up the energy to collect the discarded bag and it's scattered contents. He cracked open a Red Bull, chugging it.

He ran out of things to do after twenty minutes, deciding to play kick the (Red Bull) can with himself. He glanced up as a black cat pulled up next to him.

Kid rolled down the window, leaning out. "Get in."

Blackstar chuckled, kicking the can as far as he can. Stepping around to the passenger's side, he grinned at Kid. "Thanks, though I could do without the sass."

"That was hardly sass." Kid had a pitch-black hoodie on, which was weird for him as he usually wore completely formal clothes. Blackstar guessed that he was wearing it because it was late.

"Just drive, will ya?"

Kid didn't argue further, the car weaning forward once more. "Where do you live?"

"Pretty far, actually. Can I crash at your place?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

Kid glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "First you use me as an Uber, now you want to sleep at my house?" He didn't sound angry despite what he was saying.

"It's one night, don't get pissy."

"I'm hardly upset." Kid calmly replied. "My ability to care is substantially repressed right now, so you might as well." Blackstar shot him a questioning look. "I haven't slept in like, eight days."

"Dude, how are you alive?"

Kid smiled faintly. "God, I wish I knew."

Their conversation ended there, and the car grew silent. Blackstar felt slightly claustrophobic, more suffocated by the weight of what he learned that day more than anything.

He grabbed the chest of his shirt, gripping and twisting it. He didn't feel sad his father was gone. No, it wasn't that he was sad that the man who had flat out abused him for his entire life was gone...A part of him, just somehow felt...lost. He didn't have the faintest idea what he was going to do after this. He couldn't stay in the house, could he?

The bigger problem, the one that made Blackstar chew his lip loomed over him.

He wasn't really human. That Demon Hunter, that Mifune...if he was right, then what could he really do? There didn't seem to be anyone else in the world that could understand. He had more questions about himself than he ever had, and for the first time, Blackstar doubted himself.

Not too much, though. This was still Blackstar. _'Regardless if he's right or not..._ ' he told himself in his head, ' _I'm still amazing_.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Blackstar, you never change.
> 
> Rip worst dad.  
> Also rip Soul and Blackstar's humanity.


	6. Swords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up. Blood and death happen in this chapter.
> 
> Review/comments/criticism is encouraged. Tell me if I fuck up.

The monstrous dog that guards the gates of hell is known commonly as Cerberus- Though, as humans tend to, the details about him were, in all ways, exaggerated. He was akin to the human's fictional creature called a 'werewolf', taking the form of a massive man sometimes and a beastly wolf other times- only changing to the said form of a wolf monster when fighting.

When he wasn't fighting, Cerberus sat in chains, placed there by the Royal Family of Hell, whom he hated so much for forcing him to do their work for them. He had been placed there both because of his strong abilities and his crimes- his worst being stealing the eyeball of the most powerful Angel Hunter known to man, or otherwise. Normally, the royal family would be happy to see an angel hunter off, for angel hunters took away more opportunities for the collection of angel souls than they prevented incidents- but she grew angry against all demons, and attacked Hell and innocent demons on too many occasions to count- the King, of course, blamed him.

  
_He's been there, bored, ever since._

"Let's fix that, shall we?" Medusa sneered. She sauntered up to the towering, black gates. She had to admit, they were extravagant- the metal having beautifully crafted symbols and the the phrase: 'de profundus'- 'The depths', stretching across the two doors. She was finally allowed to be in her demon form. Her skin was scaly, blackish purple, and she had a long, black, snake-like tail that swayed slowly. The end of her tail was a sharp arrow. Her arms were tattooed with pitch black snakes. Her fangs protruded out of her lips at all time, and her eyes were thin, calculated, almost diamond-shaped, always glaring.

As she got closer, she finally saw what she was looking for- Cerberus.

His head was encased in black metal- a heavy, false head in the shape of a fierce dog. Two more similar heads held his hands and forearms. The three dog heads had forms of collars carved onto them, sturdy chains protruding from each. His arms were slightly elevated, and he stood in plain sight right in the middle of the gate, directly in the way of anyone wanting to pass.

She stepped close to him, dangerously close, _far too close_ , only a foot away.

He sniffed the air, parting his mouth. The low growl he emitted was almost as intimidating as his buff figure, which looked like it could tear her into pieces without a second thought. If the stories she heard about him were correct, he could. The sound rumbled through the nostrils of the head upon his own, them being the only openings in the entire trap.

"Hello, Cerberus. My name is Medusa."

It took him little time to respond. "I don't really care." He growled.

"You should, I am the one who's going to set you free."

He seemed to perk up at her words. "Set me free? Really? How do you plan on doing that?"

Medusa chuckled darkly, slipping her hand into a thick, brown glove. She then pushed her hand into her front pocket, drawing a blindingly-white dagger. "Well, those Royals up in their high towers let you have free hands once someone confronts you..." She lifted her leg into the air, slamming it into his stomach.

She felt like she kicked lead. He didn't even double over, simply grunting softly.

Just then, the shackles on his hands growled, the jaws of the dogs hinging open, coming off with a hiss. They fell to the ground, leaving small craters where they impacted.

He stood up straighter, growling. "If this is your idea of helping me, I might have to reject your offer."

"And stay here chained like a pathetic dog?" She mocked, pointing her blade at him. "How glamorous. You know, if you simply be a good dog and let me help you, you'll be free much sooner."

"How do you plan on getting my head shackle off? It's never come off, and I've been here for hundreds of years."

"Oh, I know. Just stay still, will you?" She lunged forward, leaping onto his shoulders. Her legs wrapped around his neck, and drove the bright dagger into the left eye socket of the dog. She pried and thrashed the knife within the confines of the metal.

Cerberus roared. He thrashed his head violently, his screams lower than thunder and more fear-inducing than the deadliest of storms. When she heard a sickening squelch, and felt her blade slip into the beast's eye socket like a bloody sheath, she smiled wide. Medusa ripped the blade from his eye and the metal head gave a violent hiss as it parted straight down the middle. The heavy metal left a sizable dent in the solid, stone ground, even more so than the hand restraints. It seemed to almost wear an expression of defeat, molten tears oozing halfway down it's face from it's left eye.

Anywhere the dagger had made contact with the metal, it had melted like ice. This tiny, fragile little dagger couldn't even seem to cut bread- and yet, this metal bent to its will.

The blade was made from angelic metal- metal that previously made up the weapons of fallen angels. The metal only becomes more powerful with each soul- with enough, it can produce and anti-demon wavelength.

She chuckled darkly. It had worked like a charm. It easily melted the cursed metal. It was foolish to put the entire of the locking mechanism in one place, though she admit, a good place. It rested inside Cerberus' eye. She watched with utter fascination as Cerberus started to morph, screaming and holding his eye.

His face seemed to elongate, becoming a snout, filled with mangled, sharp teeth. His fingernails became black claws, and his body grew and burst with dark fur.

He threw his arms open with a loud, mighty roar that shook the red and black rock of the world around them. His injured eye smoked black, healing with a disgusting series of squishing noises, and in an impossibly short time, his eye was back how to it was before.

Medusa grinned. "Now, isn't that better?"

* * *

 

Blackstar woke up sprawled on a couch he didn't recognize. It took him a solid few minutes to realize that he wasn't kidnapped, or that he don't break into someone's house. Sitting up, he scratched his scalp.

"You know, you sleep like a rock."

Blackstar glanced over at Kid, coffee mug in hand. He took a sip.

"I don't even remember coming in here, dude." He stretched slowly, back popping. He grunted softly.

Kid yawned. His eyes seemed a bit more shadowed than usual, and a bit lidded. "That's cause you were starting to get loopy from being exhausted. You fell down. I had to drag you to the couch."

Blackstar chuckled. "My bad."

"Your bad indeed." Kid stepped over, sitting on the opposite side of Blackstar. "I have coffee, if you want it."

"Nah, I don't really drink that crap."

Kid simply hummed.

They sat in silence for a while. Last night's events started to bleed into Blackstar's mind. He looked down at his hand, then back to Kid, who seemed to be more focused on his coffee. Blackstar wasn't the type to keep his emotions in. What was the point, anyway? Kid seemed trustworthy enough...and if he didn't believe him, what did he have to lose? He'd just forget about it, right?

"Hey, Kid?"

"Hm?"

He hesitated, something he very rarely did. But then again, he wasn't quite himself around Kid anyway. "Can I tell you something? I mean...like, explain what happened last night."

"An explanation would be good, yes." He met Blackstar's eyes, and- thank god he was sitting down.

"It's kind of a long story."

"I don't have anything else to do."

"Alright, well, you asked for it." He inhaled to begin his story.

"Technically, you asked for it, but go on."

He glowered at Kid for a split second, then settling into his seat. "I was gonna go visit Soul, right, cause he just got out of the hospital...but then I had this weird feeling in my stomach, like someone I knew was nearby. Then...well, it sounds crazy, but, a some guy named Mifune threw a sword right at me. It got stuck in the wall. Then he started talking about the 'Star Clan.' Apparently, it's a clan my family's been in for a hella long time.

"And...he started talking about how he _killed_  my dad, and that he'd 'taken the path of the demon', and that he himself was a 'demon hunter'. Like, actually hunting demons and shit! It was weird as hell, and I don't understand it, but...he wasn't all human. And then...he told me that...I was a demon hunter, too, and...I wasn't _human_."

Kid stared at him. His lips were tight, and his eyebrows were knitted in utter confusion. "So...implying that both demons exist, and non-humans to hunt them exist, and you were one and you never knew?"

"Well, yeah! But it sounds dumb when you say it like that."

"It sounds dumb either way. So a guy with a sword-"

"A lot of swords, actually." Blackstar interrupted.

He rolled his eyes. "A guy with _swords_ attacked you, told you he murdered your crazy dad, and wasn't human, and on top of that said you weren't human, and you believed him?"

"Well, it makes sense! What else would explain my dad's craziness and the claws and shit?! Plus, it explains my tattoo!"

Kid seemed to be caught a little off guard. "Tattoo? The one on your shoulder?"

"Yeah," he pulled up his sleeve to reveal the star, "I've had it my whole life, but no one believes me when I tell them! But he said that it's called a...what was it...a glam...." he had to wrack his brain. "A glamour."

"That… is a really dumb term for a tattoo."

"Maybe it means something?" He suggested, shrugging. "But yeah, it is. Sounds like something a drag queen would say."

Kid hummed in mild agreement, placing his cup on the coffee table. "...you're sure this all happened?"

"Yeah. I remember it really clearly."

Kid sighed, running a ringed hand through his night-black hair. "I had a lot of doubts about all this demon nonsense, but...I guess the supernatural always seems to explain the unexplainable. Maybe...it's not completely unfounded. I don't know. Maybe I'm just losing sanity."

"If you're going insane, then I'm batshit crazy!" He grinned.

Kid sighed heavily, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Yeah," his voice was much less strained, "I knew that already."

Blackstar punched his arm lightly. "Shut up, you brat!" He laughed.

Kid smiles faintly. "Am I wrong?"

"Yes! I'm way too powerful to go insane because of some dumb old man! If I am non-human, then it just makes me even more awesome! Think about it! 'Blackstar, the Demon Slayer!" He held up his hands as if presenting the title.

Kid's smile wavered. "Er...yeah. Great."

"What, don't think I can do it?!"

Kid rolled his eyes. "You can do whatever you want, I don't care. And if you want to fight these so-called demons, I'm not gonna stop you."

"It should be impossible to be this chill. You might be rivaling Soul on that one."

"Blackstar, he could get hit by a train and he still would be okay with it."

Blackstar laughed. "Damn, that's a little harsh, but you're right."

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

"I'm gonna tell him you said that." He tried to threaten, still smiling playfully.

"He'd probably agree with me, knowing him."

"Damn you, rich boy! My plans are foiled again!"

Kid smiled again, and Blackstar had to bite his tongue. "Mwah ha ha." He monotoned.

"Pfft, that was the most unenthusiastic evil laugh I've ever heard."

"Well, it's not like a practice."

Blackstar shook his head, still smirking. "You're a fucking dork."

"I've been told."

Kid flinched and Blackstar blinked in surprise as his phone suddenly blasted 'All Star'. Kid glared at him.

"What? It's a good song!" He answered the phone after seeing it was Soul who was calling.

"It's really not." Kid watched him greet Soul, loudly.

"Soul!! How you doing, man?!" A pause. "Other than that." Another pause. "Today? Yeah, I have nothing going on." Once again, a pause. "...Aight. I have food for you by the way. Yeah." But this time, there was a pause. "I'll be there. I'll tell Kid, I'm at his house." He scoffed after a moment, "okay, it is NOT like that! Just- shut up! See you there."

"What was that about?" Kid's head tilted ever so slightly.

"Soul wants to hang out everyone in town. We're gonna grab lunch, then just hang and shit. He wants to meet up at twelve."

"Mm, I see. Well, have fun." He stood, picking up the cup, and sipping the little coffee that was left.

"You're coming too, idiot."

"I figured. I'm kind of stuck in this friend group now, right?"

"Oh, you love us." He stuck out his tongue.

"Maybe." Kid stepped away, strolling into the kitchen. Blackstar checked his texts, preparing himself for the endless apologizing he'd have to do to Tsubaki.

* * *

 

Medusa led Cerberus, slowly, with a purpose, forward. Getting into hell was easy. Escaping this realm- especially with Cerberus in tow, would be a challenge. There was the gargantuan staircase, first of all. If she even got that far, she first had to get past the massive lake of molten rock, one that she could only get by if she miraculously sprouted wings and flew across, or get on a boat.

The singular boat of old has long since been replaced by more modern speed boats, even a single yacht and jet-skis. She had snuck into a speedboat on her trip over, but that wouldn't work this time, with her new "guest", hiding him on a speedboat would be impossible.

Creeping up to the docks, Cerberus close behind, she peered at a long boat, far from the others. A single demon worked on it's engine.

"Hey, so-"

"Shh." She hissed.

His voice lowered, only slightly. "Hey...so I've been thinking. Since I'm y'know, free now, I don't need my old name! It's one that the King gave to me anyway, and I don't want that shit to be who I am!"

"I don't particularly care." She growled lowly. He really was an idiot.

He didn't seem to notice her remark. "So I've decided, from now on, my name is Free!"

"Fantastic.” She snapped sarcastically. “Now be quiet before someone hears us."

Free didn't respond, looking over her head. He was glad she had no horns.

She creeped up behind the demon, slowly, slowly...completely silent.

" _Anguis, anguis..._ " she whispered. The tattoos on her arms glowed a faint purple. " _anguis, anguis, corruptus, corruptus._ " Her voice raised to it's normal level.

Black, snake-like and deadly arrows slowly slid from Medusa's back, hanging in the air and pointing their tips at the unsuspecting victim.

The demon only let out a tiny, pathetic squeak as they were pierced.

Blood splattered, staining the metal of the boat. The sickening crunch of the demons body becoming impaled only lasted but a moment. In a second's haste, the demon turned completely black, the magic bursting out, only leaving behind a faintly red soul.

A small cross popped from the ground, and if the situation wasn't so grim, it would have been almost comical.

Medusa uncaringly stepped onto the boat. Demon souls hardly contributed to her power. Say for experiments, they were all in all useless to her. She had much bigger plans in mind.

She turned to Free. "Get in."

* * *

 

Maka felt incredibly uneasy. And she didn't know why.

She was having a good day. All of her friends were there.

Soul was shaking his head and chuckling at Blackstar, who was boastful as usual. Liz and Tsubaki held hands while Patty clung to Tsubaki's free arm, laughing joyfully. Tsubaki wore a happy smile. Kid watched all of them as the group walked, actually smiling, seeming content and calm. They all looked so comfortable, so happy, like nothing was wrong in the world.

So why did she stop walking?

And why couldn't she breathe?

They didn't notice her odd behavior until it was too late, and the world was blurry and foggy and there was suddenly pain in her head and Maka felt like she was floating.

Muffled voices cried her name. Her vision mixed and churned. It went from an assault of color to white, to pitch black.

Hours in her head passed, it felt like hours. How long did she lie there? How long was she going to lie there?

Her vision started to clear, but it wasn't normal. All around her, there was a glow of evil red. Blood red. She gasped, trying to get air into her lungs as if that would somehow make it go away. Her fear was elevating with every moment.

She couldn't take it.

But...out from the red, there was a blue, calming glow. Six glows of heavenly, sky blue, with just a touch of gold on the far left of the group of blue. From her own chest, the same comforting blue glow poured out. The red around her faded into the background, just slightly, but from behind her friend's souls, a blood red glow only grew, overpowering the sickly red of the rest of the world. Slowly, the glows took shape, into six blue souls. One had a slight orange tinge at the top, two were faintly pink , one was a deep navy, and another had a faint purple, all the glows emitted from their tips. The final soul seemed to have a brilliant gold glow enveloping it. Her own soul had a faintly orange glow on it's wiggling tail upon its topside. Inside her soul, a heavenly white glow shone. Strangely, the pink souls had a very faint version of this. In fact, all the souls had a glow within them, say for the slightly golden soul. The Orange soul had a deep, transparent red. The navy soul had a cyan middle. The purple soul had a grayish center. But that didn't make sense.

These souls belonged to her friends, right? They felt familiar, like she knew the souls personally, so they had to be. She had studied human souls before, and they were supposed to be blue inside, like the surface, but...

"Maka!"

Maka snapped her eyes open wider than they already were, and in less than a second, her vision was back to normal, say for being a bit out of focus.

Soul was staring at her in concern, holding her shoulders. She found that she was sitting up against a wall, all of her friends leaning over to watch her.

"H...huh?" Was all she could get out.

"Are you with us, Maka?" Kid asked, his usually calm and low voice a bit worried-sounding.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm with you." She slowly stood, being helped by Soul.

"You passed out for like, no reason!" Blackstar exclaimed. "You were staring at us really weirdly."

"You looked like you saw a ghost." Tsubaki mumbled.

"Or like, six ghosts! But the ghosts were us!" Patty added.

"Yeah....I kinda just blacked out, y'know? I'm fine." She tried to smile, not really succeeding. Truly, she did feel better now, the choking feeling of dread leaving as quickly as it had came.

"People don't just pass out for no reason, Maka." Soul frowned, brow furrowed.

"Maybe it's the heat," Kid suggested. "It's bothering me a bit, too. I felt somewhat...lightheaded earlier. It might just be something going around, though."

Maka nodded faintly. "Maybe.”

Kid nodded dismissively. "I'm a bit more concerned about you, though." The others nodded in agreement.

Tsubaki stepped up to her. "Here, have some water," Tsubaki reached to the side of her purse, offering Maka a half-empty water bottle. "You can just waterfall it."

Maka took it, pouring it into her mouth. She finished the rest of the bottle quickly, and stood up straighter.

She smiled faintly at her friends. "Thanks, Tsu. I feel a lot better. We can keep going."

"Are you sure?" Soul immediately asked.

"Yeah. I won't let this ruin our day of fun, right?"

Everyone grinned widely, say for Kid and Tsubaki, who never had very energetic smiles anyway.

"This is a day for celebration, right? I'll be fine, let's just focus on making the most of today!"

She got nods from Kid, Tsubaki, and Liz, and enthusiastic cheers from Blackstar and Patty. Soul grinned at her and punched her arm.

"If you pass out again, I'll never forgive you, cause you said you're fine, got that?"

Maka grinned back and nodded. She had all but forgotten the strangeness within her friend's souls.

Patty grabbed one of her hands, smiling happily. Maka laughed as she was pulled along. The whole group began to walk again.

Kid rolled his eyes. "Don't rip the poor girl's arm off, Patty."

Patty responded by trapping his hand in her free one. That earned her a brief glare, which soon melted into an amused smile.

Maka chuckled, shutting her eyes. She felt like she expected something to happen when she did, like something was waiting. Her smile fell. She felt like there was, as ridiculous as it sounded to herself, some sort of string pulled taught in her soul, waiting to snap. She focused on the feeling, feeling it tighten and tighten.

Then it snapped, and she opened her eyes.

Once again, the world was a mix of soul's glows. It was now mostly blue. Though, intimidatingly, the ground below them seemed to glow red. The dark, intimidating kind of red. She glanced to her right at Patty's and Kid's souls. Party's was one of the pink souls, which shouldn't have come as a surprise. Kid's was the faintly gold soul. Their forms almost seemed like shadows, only vessels to their souls. Kid's shadow snapped it's head over to her, and the perception was shattered, and the souls disappeared.

Kid stared at her in confusion, eyebrows knit tightly together. He faintly glared, and she didn't know why.

"Maka, are you alright? You seemed to...space out." Kid finally spoke.

Maka nodded quickly, trying to ignore the group's worried glances. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

Did Kid somehow feel that she was looking at his soul?

No, he couldn't have. He's human, and as far as she knew, only non humans could do that. If he was an angel in disguise, he'd have a white glow inside of his soul like her, and if he was a demon, his soul would be red. Maybe she was just paranoid. It wouldn't be the first time. Sometimes, she just felt like somehow people knew. But they were human. And Kid is human.

She shook her head, casting away those thoughts. "Let's just focus on having fun, Kay?"

Kid didn't seem too convinced, but turned forward and let it go anyway.

It seemed they could barely cover any ground before their normal walk was once again interrupted.

Blackstar suddenly stopped in his tracks, whipping his head to the opposite side of the street. Maka looked, and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary there, just a man with pale, long hair. Was that what he noticed?

The man looked over, and Blackstar locked him into a intense stare.

"Uh...Blackstar? You okay there?" Soul asked, gently tapping Blackstar's shoulder.

Blackstar didn't move, narrowing his eyes, the green of his irises practically burning. He gave off a scorching aura, like white-hot metal.

Kid followed Blackstar's eyes to the man across the street. "Isn't that the guy who...?" He didn't finish his sentence.

"Yeah." Blackstar answered bluntly.

The man slowly reached a hand behind him, and everyone's eyes widened when he pulled out a shiny sword.

Blackstar tumbled to the ground.

A high pitched screech of laughter burst into the air, and Blackstar yelled.

"What the hell?! Get it off of me!! SHIT!" He cursed as the tiny thing squirming on top of him.

"What is that?!" Liz cried, jumping backwards.

"A child." Kid cringed.

The tiny form on top of Blackstar had short, pink hair in a bob, with two white horns that faded to gray pointed nearly straight up. She grinned mischievously, a mouth full of shark like teeth. She stuck out her tongue, which was much longer than what it should be. She had white, swirl-like markings on her cheeks.

Blackstar kicked her off, and she tumbled to the concrete. The little demon cried out softly, black dress dirtied from the ground. She pouted.

"You're a meanie face!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!" Blackstar yelled.

Everyone stared in confusion.

All of a sudden, a sword flew past Blackstar, just barely grazing his hair, and drove into the wall behind him.

The man was suddenly scarily close to them. "I suggest...you don't hurt her."

Tsubaki, Liz, and soul, all stared fearfully. Patty hid behind her sister. Kid stared at the man, teeth clenched and pupils contracted.

"Th-That..." Maka sputtered. "Is she a...?"

"A demon!" The aforementioned girl cried proudly. "The white demon Angela!"

"Fitting name." Blackstar growled sarcastically.

"A-An actual...demon?!" Liz cried, practically on the verge of passing out.

"COOL!" Patty cried happily, who was immediately grabbed by her sister.

"Patty! That's not cool!" Liz shook her sister hysterically, as if that would change her mind. Patty only laughed.

Blackstar dragged himself to his feet, boldly grabbing the handle of Mifune's discarded sword and yanking it from the wall. He pointed it at the two of them. "You know what I suggest?" He growled. "I suggest you fuck off!"

Maka and Tsubaki took a step back.

Maka's mind was going wild. _'A real demon just showed herself in front of humans?! And in front of my friends?! Blackstar had a sword, oh god, why did he have a sword, who the hell protects demons like that?! Should I transform...?"_

The man glared. "Bold of you. But I suppose that is star clan." He drew one of his own swords.

"What the hell?! Blackstar, don't fucking start a fight with a guy with a million swords!" Soul yelled at Blackstar.

"The hell I can't!" He jerked his sword back, rest to attack.

Before he could even start to, he cried out in sudden pain, and was on the ground, holding his side. The sword clattered to the ground.

Kid stood still, the hand he expertly struck Blackstar with still extended. He slowly stood up straight. "Stop. Being. Stupid." He growled between clenched teeth.

Every stared in shock, and not even Mifune expected such a quick and hard strike from Kid, the skinniest and tiniest out of the seven friends.

Blackstar groaned. "The hell, Kid."

"Look-" he began sharply, "I don't know what's going on, why there's a tiny demon here, why there's a man with swords here, and why Blackstar thinks in his tiny skull it's okay to fight him, but I am already done. I swear to Satan himself, because he seems to be tormenting us, if you break out into a fight right here, I will be the ones to kill you." Those last few words were spoken lowly, and sent a chill through everyone, except Mifune, but if it did, he didn't show it.

Maka finally found the strength to speak. "Kid's right. This is confusing, but...we shouldn't fight." She quietly thanked god for letting Kid be here to stop the situation.

Soul looked over at her. She could tell why. She shook her head. No, she couldn't use her powers, not unless their lives were directly in danger.

Blackstar suddenly screamed, jumping back up and snatching the sword. He lunged at Mifune, who had to block with his own sword.

The whole group erupted in chaos.

Angela screeched in fear and surprise, an inhuman sound, high pitched and terrifying.

Kid yelled Blackstar's name, grabbing at his shoulders and arms to pull him back, yelling that he was an idiot and to stop over and over.

Tsubaki cried Blackstar's name in a panic, also grasping at him desperately to stop the fight.

Soul screamed at Blackstar and Mifune both, letting out a slew of curses.

Liz and Patty clung to each other and watched helplessly, eyes wide. Liz tried to yell, though her voice cracked.

Maka stood paralyzed for a few moments, horror flowing through her veins. A part of her couldn't comprehend.

Once she saw the intense wrestling of her friends, Blackstar, and Mifune for a second too long, she finally got her body to move.

She heard a sickening sound of blade slicing through flesh and muscle and organs, and a voiceless gasp of pain. A flash of red splattered to the pavement.

Everyone froze, and for the longest time, everything was completely and utterly silent.

Blackstar's blade clattered to the ground, the only sound in the deafening quiet.

Mifune's blade, however, was still gripped tightly in his hand, frozen at the end of his swing. Beads of blood slipped down the metal, onto the ground below, the ground which had become to heat, and slowly, menacingly, rumble.

* * *

 

Medusa couldn't hold in her laughter. Everything was going so perfect. Demons were awakening all around the world from Cerberus'- or rather, Free's wavelength alone. All she had to do was retrieve her dear child, and everything could truly get into motion.

Free was doing what do demon dared to do- he attacked the wall above them, the underside of the surface, clawing and firing countless explosive magic spells, biting, and punching. The ground was actually giving way, something no demon had ever laid witness too. Free, nor Medusa for that matter, had a care for using the traditional exit, swarmed by demons painfully loyal to the royal family.

No, there was no time for that foolishness. Sometimes stealth must be sacrificed for the sake of efficiency, and this was much more efficient. Not only that, it would send a message that she had been trying to send for her whole life.

_"I can destroy you, I want to destroy you, and I will destroy you."_

* * *

 

Blackstar's balled fists fell into flat, shaking palms.

He messed up.

He realized that upon seeing the blood spurt and drip from Kid's stomach, sliced open. He felt the impact of what he'd done as Kid's wide eyes stared at his own wound, a streak of blood falling from his lips to his chin.

Maka watched in horror as her friend collapsed his knees, then the ground, into a puddle of his own blood. She didn't even feel the shaking and spasming of the ground.

She messed up.

She was supposed to protect people. Maintain order. Protect her friends. And she messed up.

Finally, something broke the silence that tore at Maka's soul. It was Liz.

Screaming.

She screamed bloody murder, ripping herself from her shocked sister and running to Kid's side. Patty stood still as a statue, wide eyes staring at their closest friend's body.

Tsubaki broke out in shrieks too, starting to cry.

Everyone else was frozen. Save for the wielder of the blade that had caused the horror.

Mifune slowly slid his body into a neutral position, sheathing his blade behind him. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"I'm sorry. I don't like killing the young. Especially innocent young. It was not my intent to..." he decided not to finish that sentence, face obscured by his hair.

He wouldn't have finished it anyway, for Blackstar screamed and punched him in the face as hard as he could. Mifune's head snapped the opposite way, blood bursting from his mouth. He pounced forward, wildly throwing his fists and kicking anywhere he could.

Soul cried out in alarm, along with Maka, and Soul ran forward, grabbing Blackstar and pulling him back.

"ENOUGH!" He screamed at the enraged boy. "ISN'T THIS ENOUGH?!" Soul paused, arms shaking slightly. "Isn't this enough...?"

Blackstar hung his head, panting furiously.

Liz had Kid laid on his back, having taken off her jacket. She pressed the fabric to Kid's wound, and while it did stop some blood flow, part of her knew that the wound was too deep.

Maka felt her hands ball into fists. "You-" she growled, eyes burning. She felt her back ache, her wings practically trying to burst out from inside her. "You-!"

She was interrupted by the ground a block away from them exploding, a large figure clawing up from the chaos.

A wolf-like monster roared, shaking every single one of them, even shaking the buildings nearest to him.

Everyone had to cover their eyes as a burst of dust a debris flew past them. It held for a few horrible seconds, and when it finally died off, they lowered their arms and hands.

Maka looked up. Mifune and Angela were gone. They had left them.

Maka screamed. It wasn't a scream of despair, or fear. It was of rage. Rage toward herself, Mifune, the world for letting this all happen.

Deep down, she knew she was as good as helpless. Without her weapon, she had little else to fight with. She couldn't hold her own against whatever that was.

The monster free himself from the hole he had created, enormous claws digging into the pavement.

"IT'S BEEN TOO LONG SINCE I'VE BEEN UP HERE!" He boomed, spreading out his arms like he was trying to embrace the sun.

It was most definitely a demon. Which means is was her responsibility to fight it. But what could she do?

The monster tilted his head and grinned at their group. He sniffed the dust-filled air.

"I smell blood already! What a strong scent!" He mocked, taking a few steps closer. He picked up a nearby car. He hoisted it above his head. "My favorite of scents!!"

Maka grabbed Soul immediately, running to Tsubaki and tackling her out of the way of the incoming object. Liz grabbed Kid and jumped, Blackstar evaded almost too easily, tackling Patty out of harm's way while he was at it.

They all groaned in pain. They all had bruises and scrapes, the most severe of them being Liz, who had shielded Kid's body from most of the impact of falling to the ground. The car landed close enough to her to shower her with glass, and she lay unconscious with several cuts.

Maka shakily tried to stand.

She failed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Latin translations for this chapter-  
> Anguis- Snake  
> Corruptus- Corrupt
> 
> >:D


	7. Demons and demons and demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things reach their peak, and a lot of blood spills. Sorry for the slow update! Please tell me if you find a mistake!

Maka coughed, and all that came out was thick blood.

Her body was being crushed by pain, and her soul crushed by Free's wavelength. Her entire body ached, and she felt sick to her stomach, like a constrictor was squeezing her stomach endlessly. The world spun around her, blood red seeping into the edges of her vision. She had never felt _this_ strong of a demon wavelength before, it consumed her, made it so all her mind and body could focus on was that horrific feeling. She barely recognized her own movements as she pushed to her hands and knees. She panted desperately, glancing through the sheet of hair that hung beside her face.

The demon was right on top of them. He loomed over them, standing proudly on top of the car he had thrown. Two large boulders were in each of his hands. Eyes wide in fear, she glanced to her friends again.

Kid and Liz were both sprawled on the ground near each other, the ground Kid lay on splattered with an immense amount of red. She moves her head to where Blackstar and Patty had been. Blackstar was slumped against the car, blood staining his blue hair. Patty hadn't moved much, but she too had blood caking her forehead, along with her cheek. One of her arms were twisted at an odd angle. Tsubaki's form was obscured by rocks, and Maka couldn't make out more than her general shape.

Her heart pounded in her throat, and it finally got to be too much. She retched, vomiting on the cracked pavement. It was half red.

Free noticed her movement, and laughed. "Still alive? And still conscious! You're a tough cookie, but I'll fix that!" He was clearly proud of his one-liners. He jumped from the car, landing with a loud crash. Maka tried desperately to push herself up, but she was so weak. No one was even conscious, there was no way she'd be able to get out of this.

She thought she was a goner, at least until she heard a loud clang on top of the car beside them.

"HEY, SHOWER-DRAIN HAIRBALL!"

They both snapped their heads over, but had no time to react as a tan and blue blob tackled Free to the ground with a loud thump. Maka watched as Blackstar threw wild punches at the beast, kicking and screaming, fiery eyes glaring through his own blood.

Free thrashed and roared, trying to throw Blackstar off. There was a sudden, loud, disgusting sound of metal piercing through flesh. Then, an even louder screech of pain from free. Blackstar rolled off of his back. Smoke rose from his right shoulder and he squirmed wildly in pain. He kicked over cars, crashed against the pavement, and yelled before finally pulling what had stabbed him from his shoulder. A long, pitch black Katana clattered to the ground, splattered with dark red blood, which fizzled on the blade.

Blackstar panted, looking up in confusion. A part of him was drawn to the blade, and he wasn't about to give up a free weapon, so he quickly grabbed the sword and pointed it at Free. Maka stared at his shoulder. His star tattoo was gone.

Free finally stumbled upward, his beady eyes locking onto Blackstar. "What did you do?!"

"I have no fucking clue!" He yelled back. His confidence didn't seem shaken in the least. "but I'm still gonna kick your ass!" He drew his sword back, lunging forward and stabbing at Free with no hesitation. The sword dragged across Free's arm as he tried to dodge, and his wound immediately burst with blood, the skin sizzling.

"This is for my fucking friends!" Blackstar screamed, his voice full of nothing but rage and determination. He stabbed Free directly in the chest, who roared and drove his large palm into the side of Blackstar's face, sending him flying down the street and onto the ground. He ripped the blade from his chest, throwing it away from Blackstar as far as he could. His hand was burned from the few seconds the sword touched his skin. The sword embedded itself into the road many, many feet away.

Blackstar coughed up droplets of blood, crying out in agony. His left arm stung and violently ached at the same time. He looked down at it, shocked to see bone sticking out of the arm, blood pouring from the wound. His teeth clenched painfully tight as he tried to bear the pain, his head pounding from disgust and anger. He struggled to get up, but when he finally did, he was only brought down again by a sudden crushing force on his back. His entire chest was pushed into the ground hard, and Blackstar found himself gasping for breath. He felt hot liquid drip onto the back of his head.

Free grinned a wide, unnatural smile, a mouth full of teeth practically bulging outward. "One hit, and that's it? You humans are just as fragile as I remember." He starts pressing down on Blackstar with more and more force.

"Stop it! STOP!"

All Blackstar can hear for minutes on end is a ringing in his ears and Maka's shrill screams for him to be spared. He managed strains his neck to look back at Free's face, who still has a sickening grin on his mangled features. Blackstar glared him down, all of his rage mustering into his eyes.

"Aw, trying to intimidate me?" Free curled two fingers into Blackstar's hair and yanked his head up. His fingers enveloped his whole head easily. "That's adorable coming from a filthy, pathetic human."

Maka ripped her eyes away, but that didn't stop the disgusting crack that then came from infecting every part of her mind.

She saw Free get off of Blackstar from the corner of her eye, and she felt hot tears well up. She had no idea if Blackstar was killed, but a part of her told herself that no one could survive that. Even a demon hunter.

Maka shuddered. The ground mimicked her as heavy footsteps approaching shook the ground. She hung her head. All of her friends were dead or unconscious, and she couldn't even do anything to stop it. She couldn't stop any of this. She looked up at her inevitable killer.

"And then there was one." He laughed to himself. "Now that was a really cool line!" He raised his claws over his head, delighted. "Now die."

From what felt like miles away, she heard the sound of a body being penetrated with something incredibly sharp.

And it took her long, agonizing moments to realize it wasn't hers that was pierced. She whipped her head up, and saw Free frozen in place, Blackstar's blade stuck through his forehead. He suddenly screamed, collapsing over. He held his forehead and howled with pain, scrambling like a chicken with it's head cut off to remove it. Maka tried to see around Free, but it was impossible until he was suddenly sent into a nearby building, crashing straight through the brick.

Kid stood on one foot, leg still extended from the kick he sent into Free. His torso was still stained with blood, a trickle still leaving his lips. His expression was blank.. He slowly went back to a normal standing position. His right hand hung limply at his side. The hand was bleeding and sizzling. Looking up slowly at his eyes, he saw that the whites had turned pitch black.

_Oh, god._

Free let out another skull-shattering roar, ripping himself from the rubble of the impact. He finally removed the sword and threw it to the side. He didn't bother with words, lunging at Kid with full strength. Kid threw himself out of the way almost easily, landing on his feet.

"You don't seem to be getting the hint..." he looked up, pupils contracting into slits. "Leave me and my friends alone." With that, the ground under him turned black, and dark mixes of lightning, skulls, and snakes coiled around Kid. Those bloody, pale lips parted. He began to speak, his voice seeming warped and a bit lower than normal.

_"Od oculos, a capite ad calcem, audeamus habere libra. Ex animo ego te provoco, miserabilis bestia. Ab inferno, de profundus, da fortitudinem ut mihi! Per nomine ex mea dominus, morietur!"_

The black snakes screeched wordlessly, their speed suddenly increasing. They burst out from Kid, dissipating into the air.

_"Glamour release!"_

His back instantly burst with pitch-black spikes, three on each side. His skin lost all saturation, becoming gray, and his arms faded to black as it crept towards his hands, his fingernails all completely black. Sharp fangs poked out of his bloodied lips. The silver rings on his fingers became black momentarily before jumping into the air, resembling the black snake-like things from before. Kid slowly raised his hands, and the two black bolts materialized into his waiting hands in an instant, becoming two, dark, intimidating-looking pistols. His little fingers rested on the triggers, and he pointed the elongated barrels right at Free.

"It's time to go back to Hell, Cerberus."

Kid pulled the trigger countless times, bombarding the unprepared demon before him with dark bullets. Blood splattered everywhere, and Free screamed until his lungs were torn apart from the sheer amount of bullets. Bright flashes overtook the air around them, and everyone was completely unable to see, all except Kid.

Maka's mind went blank, and everything started to bleed into each other. The world becomes grayed out once again, and she slowly slipped into Soul Perception once again. Free's soul all of a sudden didn't catch her interest at all, and all she could do was stare at Kid's soul. It had seemed to almost swell, a deep red mustering inside of it. The outside was a bright gold, the only exception being three strange, white horizontal lines plastered on the surface of his soul. His soul gave off an incredibly strong feeling, though it wasn't sickening or painful like Free's. It was distinctly demon, but...something about it was almost comforting. Almost...righteous. She had never seen any color but shades of red on a demon's soul, so why..?

Maka's perception shattered like a broken mirror once Kid stopped shooting.

Smoke wisped from the ends of the barrels, vaguely making skull shapes at the end. Kid slowly lowered his weapons, moving over to the smoke encompassing Free. Free suddenly burst from the smoke, and though he was bloody and half torn apart, he slashed both hands full of claws wildly at Kid.

Kid dodged into a position like a backbend, his spine going father than any human's could. Free's momentum kept him from stopping himself, so he flew straight over Kid and onto the ground. Kid pointed his guns at the wolf behind him, once again firing repeatedly, still bent backwards.

Free tried to block with his arms, but was only sent back towards the hole he had made when he crawled up from Hell. Finally, Kid focused, shutting his eyes, and a particularly strong shot from each guns hit Free square in the chest. He crumpled to the ground, dazed.

His guns flashed back into rings, and Kid grabbed one of his legs with a grunt of effort. He dragged the body over to the hole Free had made, pushing it to the edge with a great amount of effort. He put his foot on Free's side, and pushed. He suddenly cried out loudly as five long claws snapped into his arm and yanked him forward.

"I'M NOT GOING BACK THAT EASILY!" Free boomed, digging his claws deeper into Kid, trying to drag the smaller demon down. His other hand dug into the rock of the chasm. "YOU BRAT! YOU CAN'T KILL CERBERUS! I AM IRREPLACEABLE!" Kid dug his own claws in the rock in an attempt not to he dragged down. "I AM MORE THAN YOU!" Kid kicked hard onto Free, who ignored the hard assault. "I AM IMMORTAL!"

Kid threw his hands up, rings becoming guns. "You talk too much!" He shot Free directly in both eyes. The pain reflexively brought both his claws up to hold the injured organs, which only sent him down the pit. After a full twenty seconds of silence, a very faint, wet impact could vaguely be heard.

Kid dragged himself up the small edge of the hole, both legs bleeding profusely. He slowly looked around, terrifying demonic eyes only grazing Maka. He hung his head, and his guns clattered to the concrete, once again becoming haunting silver rings.

* * *

 

Kid felt his eyes sting, and a pitch-black welled up in them. It wasn't from the pain. Not the pain in his legs, or in his stomach, or in his head. It wasn't the pain of seeing his friends hurt, though very hard to think about. He didn't care that he revealed himself, but now...now he knew that these people couldn't be his friends anymore.

He felt the spikes in his shoulders slip back into his body, which was always an uncomfortably process, and his skin slowly started to gain the faint color his human guise had. He had adjusted his glamour so that it automatically returned him to more of a human form once his demon energy was low. Soon, he was human-looking again, all except his demonic eyes, from which black tears threatened to fall.

"Damn it..." he mumbled. He looked up at his bloody friends, and slowly stood. His eyes rested on Blackstar. His chest tightened, and he slowly approached him. He thought that Blackstar could take care of it. He was strong, and with him suddenly able to summon his demon hunter weapon...

"I'm...sorry." Seeing Blackstar hurt pained him as much as seeing Liz and Patty hurt, who he practically considered sisters. They were much better than his true sibling, at least. He kneeled next to Blackstar, pulling him so he rested on his back. He kept his head and neck still to prevent further injury, and gently pressed his ear to his chest, and waited. He nearly gasped when he heard breath sounds and a heartbeat. He slowly pulled up again, laying his head back down gently. His head was bleeding badly, and he most certainly had a concussion, at least. But at least Blackstar was alive. He was alive, and...well, at least for now, he didn't know.

God, his father was going to kill him. His words echoed in his mind, the countless scoldings he'd received for coming to Earth.

_"What happens if they find out? You know humans are afraid of what they don't understand..."_

_"I'm worried for your safety. Humans aren't safe."_

_"You'll get hurt if you keep doing this."_

His father's words only got harsher and louder as they shoved into his mind.

_"You can't get so sentimental over humans!"_

_"BEELZEBUB!"_

His eyes snapped wide, his own name shaking him to his core. He didn't seem aware of his own body moving as he stood, swaying. He barely felt the pain in his legs. His mind was numb, and his world was crashing down around him. He should just run. Go back to hell and never show his face on Earth again, for everyone's sake. He looked back at Blackstar, then forward to Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, Soul, and finally Maka

But...

He loved his friends too much. He had to make sure they were okay.

His eyes finally focused again, and they felt as if hot water drained from them as his eyes returned to normal. His eyes were locked with Maka's. He could tell she knew exactly what she had saw.

He slowly walked over to her, crouched down, and held out his hand. "Maka...are you alright?"

Maka's eyes swirled with emotions, emotions that welled up as tears in her eyes. She looked up at Kid shakily.

"Y-You..." she choked. "You're a-a dem..demon?"

"Yes." He simply and lowly answered, expression sympathetic.

It didn't seem real. Kid, the tiny, pale, skinny boy who didn't look like he could hurt a fly, a demon? Kid, who cared about everyone, even if they didn't care about him. Kid, who was her friend, her good friend, who seemed so goddamn nice.

In a way, she understood how Soul felt. But he was a demon, not an angel. It would be easy if he was an angel like her. But he isn't. He's a demon. A creature sent from hell itself to do god knows what with any of her friends.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't fully understand what just happened, but...I'm still your friend." He stopped, shaking his head. "I hope you can let me still be your friend."

She looked up, feeling heat behind her eyes. She jumped forward as hard as her body could let her, and wrapped her arms around him.

He froze, body stiff as Maka started sobbing against the hug. His body relaxes a bit as he returned the embrace gently, not wanting to hurt her. "Please..." Kid looked down at the bloodstained ground in front of him.

"Don't cry."

* * *

 

Kid wiped the remains of dried blood from Tsubaki's forehead, sighing as he watched the reddened cloth. He was exhausted, both from using a lot of demon energy and going trough the trouble of running to his house, driving his car to his friends, hauling his friend into his car, and hauling his friends into his house. His muscles were screaming for him to stop, and the constant sharp pains in his unattended legs did not help.

"Is...there anything I can do to help?"

He turns to the blonde for a moment, before going back to cleaning up Tsubaki. "You're hurt. I would rather take care of it myself. I know it's hard, but just rest. That's the best you can do for me. And them."

"I want to actually help!" She cried, standing up. "Not just sit here and be useless!"

"It's better if you just sit down, Maka." He looked back over, brow furrowed.

"Why?!" He snapped.

He sighed, placing the bloody washcloth on a nearby side table. He stepped to Maka. "I know this is hard for you..." he began, "it is for me too. They were- are my friends too. But there's little to be done. We barely got them here, and let's face it, paramedics would be suspicious if we called them. Suspicious of my wounds, specifically."

"They're your friends, but you lied to them." She mumbled, anger clouding most of her better judgement. "You lied to me."

"I didn't lie to you. I just didn't mention it. Secondly, you are not one to talk, Angel Maka."

Maka's eyes widened, and her head snapped up. "How did you-?!"

He put a finger over her mouth before she could continue. "I will explain when the others are awake. It is complicated. All you need to know for now, is that I can tell by your soul.   
I looked at it a few times using Soul perception. You may have felt a sensation of being watched, at some point. I haven't perfected yet, and that is a side affect." He moved his finger away, and turned his back to her, moving to care for Tsubaki once more.

"My soul...? Soul perception?"

"I'll explain the rest later. I promise. Just rest."

Maka sighed. She really wanted to protest, but 'Kid' was usually stubborn...Is 'Kid' even his real name? Or is it just another layer to the mask?

"I'm going to tell the others." Kid suddenly stated, his tone a bit more flat and strained than before. "They likely wouldn't believe a made up story...and it's possible they could have...sensed it. Or seen it, rather...or maybe both, I don't know. It's the honest thing to do."

"You're going to tell them that you're a demon? Just like that? They didn't see you, they were all knocked out! You don't have to do that... they wouldn't know."

"I know you know how hard it is to keep up the secret. But this....this is something I have to do. I've been...outed in front of others before, and I usually tell them. I didn't before..." he trails off, seeming caught in a memory.

Maka decided it's not right to press further, slumping back in the chair Kid provided. She held onto her questions for now. He'd answer them soon enough.

-

Liz saw broken and grayish colors swirl in her vision, trying to focus on any of them. Eventually, the pale flesh tone started to focus into a concerned face, framed by dark locks.

"Kid..." She mumbled, hand reaching out towards the face. She expected to feel nothing but air, but was surprised to feel a slightly warm, soft cheek actually there.

"Liz? Can you hear me?" Kid's voice pushed through the static of her brain. For a moment, she thought she must be dead. She was seeing Kid, and everything felt so dizzy...

"Liz. Wake up. Everything's fine, your sister is fine."

Oh god, Patty. Liz ached to see her little sister again, to make for certain she was okay. She tried to sit up, and found it much easier than expected, though painful. She nearly bumped into Kid, who shifted backward on the couch. With a few quick blinks, her eyes finally cleared. Her heartstrings pulled taught, she slowly looked back at Kid's pale face.

He was bruised up, his normal neat hair a bit messy. His jacket had been taken off, him just wearing his white undershirt. It was stained a dark brownish red, right where he had been cut. She looked up. He looked fine. He didn't look like a corpse, or some ethereal afterlife dweller. He just looked like her best friend Kid. Her emotions overwhelmed her, and she began to cry, grabbing Kid in a bone-crushing hug.

He grunted, but soon returned the embrace. "Apparently you missed me." He wheezed. "You're squeezing my cut. Please release me."

Liz jolted, loosening her grip, but not completely pulling away. Kid sighed with relief. "Liz...are you alright?"

Liz looked down at Kid, blinking away blinding tears. "You're alive."

He parted his lips. "Yes. I'm alive and well. But please, tell me if you're well."

"I'm fine, you idiot!" She hugged him tightly again. "You asshole...you fucking scared me... I thought you fucking died!"

Kid winced internally. "I know, I'm sorry. I thought I might die at the time. But we're both okay now. Party's okay too. She's right under you, on the floor, if you wanted to see her."

Liz nodded, looking down. Patty laid on a pile of thick blankets, smiling happily. Her arm was in a sling.

"Hi, sis." She greeted, her eyes shining. Her energy was slightly drained, but she seemed just as happy as before. "Look." She pointed with her good arm to Kid, still sitting next to her. "It's Kiddo."

"I-I know, Patty." Liz managed a smile.

"He's not dead."

"I know."

"No one's dead."

"I...I know, hun."

"I'm so happy. That dog thing..." she grinned wide. "He was so cool, wasn't he, sis?" Kid got up.

"I wouldn't call a giant, hairy, wolf-man who tried to kill us cool, Patty."

Kid smiled very faintly at the two's exchange. He exhaled, shuffling over to check up on the rest of the group. Tsubaki was probably the least injured of the group, so she had woken up first, and was now holding an ice pack against her head. Soul was being plenty taken care of by Maka, so Kid wasn't too worried about him. Instead, he moved to Blackstar, who was starting to squirm in his blankets, grunting in discomfort.

Kid sat next to him as Blackstar finally sat up. His entire forehead was covered in gauze.

"Jesus H dick..." Blackstar groaned, holding his forehead with one hand. "That fucking hurts."

"I know, relax." Kid tried to comfort him pathetically. "There's painkillers by that water bottle." He pointed to the water bottle and pulls he had placed on the hard floor next to Blackstar an hour ago. The pills were on top of a napkin. Kid wasn't exactly stable at the moment, but he wasn't insane enough to leave them on the floor.

Blackstar nodded, reaching for the pills before doing a double take. "Kid?!" He grabbed Kid's shoulders, eliciting a surprised sound from the smaller boy. "You're okay!"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine." He saw Blackstar's mouth open. "-I know what you're thinking. I'll explain in a minute, okay?"

Blackstar suddenly looked annoyed, almost pouting. "You had better!"

Kid simply rolled his eyes, standing. "I will. Right now, in fact." He walked to stand in front of all of his friends, expression solid and stony.

"Everyone..." he addressed the group, standing up straighter. "It's time I explain what happened earlier today with the Wolf-Man."

Everyone stared, no one speaking for a while. As expected, Blackstar was the first to speak.

"Well, get on with it!" He pursed his lips impatiently.

"Right." He sighed deeply. "That was a demon, as you all probably suspect. His name is Cerberus. He is the demon that guarded the gates of hell, until now. He somehow got freed from his restraints, and that is all I know about it as of now. I don't know why he attacked us. As you know, that man who claimed to be a demon hunter sliced my stomach with his blade. I can tell you now, he was. The reason that the sword hurt me like it did is the same reason that I know about Cerberus..." he felt a familiar, dull ache in his heart. "I myself am a demon." He let the news sink it, unable to bring himself to look at their faces. "That blade hurt me because it's designed to. The fact that he didn't know that it wouldn't hurt a human shows he truly was an honorable warrior." He gently held a hand over his stomach. "I used my demon abilities to push him back to Hell. But there is no telling if he will stay there. I have my doubts.

"Furthermore...I plan on going back to Hell soon myself, to establish heightened defenses for the gates of hell and start a manhunt for Cerberus...I can do these things because I...well...I'm not just a regular demon. The Devil, Lucifer, Satan, whatever you prefer to call him- he is my father, the king of hell. I am his son, Beelzebub, the prince of hell. And now I have to make sure this ordeal doesn't happen again.

"...I'm sorry." He finally uttered, head hanging low. "I kept this from all of you. I thought it would be for the best, and I still do, and I want you all to know I never meant you all to get involved in matters involving demons. I did what I could to protect you all from further harm...but I see that you're all here, bleeding and in pain, and I know that I didn't handle it as good as I could have. And for that...I'm sorry."

Everyone stared, all wide eyed. The only one who didn't look surprised was Maka, but still then, she didn't exactly look pleased.

Minutes passed of silence. Kid couldn't take it, he felt like their gazes were crushing him, piling endless weight on his very soul.

Tsubaki's shakey voice broke the crushing silence. "K-Kid..?"

He looked up.

"You lied all this time!" Liz suddenly shouted, standing. "I thought we were friends! We were supposed to be close!"

"We are friends!" Kid cried back. "I wouldn't ever cause harm to any of you! I care about you!"

"Why?! Why are you even here with humans?!"

"You're a demon..." Blackstar mumbled, eyes still not leaving Kid. "An actual demon.."

Soul looked away. "I'm with Liz. Why?"

"You don't know what it's like in hell! It's chaotic and bloody and nobody there wants anything for anyone but themselves! I've been there for too long...I love being here, on Earth. I love humans...they make life so much better. They're amazing creatures who don't deserve all the hatred they get from my fellow demons. I met Liz and Patty when I was here on a whim, and it all just grew from there." He met Liz's eyes. "I do care about you Liz. And Patty. You're both like my sisters."

"Well siblings don't lie about being fucking demons!" Liz retorted.

"And if I did tell you, you'd either react exactly like this, or be afraid of me, wouldn't you?"

That silenced Liz.

"I know how people react to this by now. I've had human friends before. They never....they never forgive me after I tell them. This won't be any different, will it?"

Patty slowly stood, fist clenched. She stepped to Kid, and punched him in the cheek with her good hand. He didn't even make a sound of pain.

"That's for not trusting us with telling." She then pulled him into a one-armed hug, squeezing tight. "You coulda killed us, or attacked us any time like that mean Cerberus dude. But you didn't. You saved us. And you're still Kiddo. I can't be mad at you, Kiddo!" She then pulled away, leaving her hand on his shoulder and smiling.

Tsubaki also got up, putting her own hand on his free shoulder. "Demon or not, you're still you..." she also smiled, though small and shyly.

Maka stood. "You shouldn't be blamed for keeping this secret. You were only trying to save the pain, and trying to protect us."

Kid moved from each face, teeth clenched tightly.

Blackstar nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, you're right. Kid, you helped me when I was freaking out about being non-human, and I shouldn't judge you for the same thing." He met Kid's eyes, and grinned. "Plus, being a demon is pretty kick-ass, huh?"

Soul sighed. "I'm mad you lied, even though you technically didn't, but I don't hate you or anything."

Liz still looked angry. "I...I'm just...I thought you trusted us."

Kid broke away from Patty and Tsubaki, stepping towards her. "I do. It's just so much. I knew you'd be mad. But you have to understand that...people like you all knowing about demons and...and me, they could be in danger or go crazy. I don't want that for you. For any of you."

Blackstar leaned backward casually. "What do you mean by people like us? Humans? Sounding kinda..."

"No. Not humans. You all are...different. If I'm going to tell you the truth, you all deserve the whole truth."

"What do you mean...?" Tsubaki asked quietly, watching Kid step past her and to the window behind them.

"None of you are quite human. As Blackstar said before, he's a demon hunter like Mifune...I saw him use abilities only Demon hunters and Angel hunters can use." He turned around.

"What are you talking about, Kid?" Maka pressed.

He sighed. "Both angels and demons exist. Demons dwell in hell, naturally, and Angels exist in heaven. There are three types of Angels and Demons. There are purebloods, like myself, who are just angels or demons. Then there are artificial types, or half types, who have either angel or demon blood injected into them at a young age, or one parent who is human and one who is an angel or demon. Every half demon or angel shows some physical signs of their respective race. Then, there is the Angel hunters and Demon hunters. They are the true opposites to what they hunt, and their origins are unknown, but hunter abilities can only be passed down by blood." He chuckled dryly. "It's an amazing coincidence, maybe something more...there's every type in this room right now. None of us are really human. And I can tell none of you, except Blackstar, know what you are." He paused, watching their expressions before starting to pace across the room, hands clasped behind his back.

"Everyone has a soul. Some people can see souls using an ability called soul perception. A human's soul is blue, a demon's soul is red, and an angel's soul is white or blue. At their core, souls have different tints depending on the type of creature they are, and their personalities. Artificial demons tend to have Orange souls, artificial angels tend to have pinkish souls. Demon hunters and angel hunters more depend on their personality, but it's easier to tell by how they interact with demons and angels. My soul in particular has some gold around it due to me being royalty...very powerful magic and cover up the color of a soul, and that's what I used to protect my soul's identity. I hid my physical form with magic as well." He looked up.

"Liz and Patty, you two were the first ones I realized weren't human. You're both half angels. I believe that your excessive beauty is what trait you gained from being angels. Angels do tend to be beautiful, after all."

"WHOA!!" Patty yelled, giddy with excitement. "Does this mean we can fly?!"

"Unfortunately, half-angels don't have wings..." he ignored the over-the-top groan of disappointment from Patty. "Moving on...Tsubaki."

"You are an angel hunter. Your clan, the Nakatsukasa clan, are very famous angel hunters. You're very powerful, even for angel hunter standards. I'm surprised you haven't found out your abilities by now."

Tsubaki looked down at her hands, suddenly looking sullen. "That...thank you, Kid. That explains..many things about my family..."

He just nodded softly. "Soul...you're half-demon. I'm sure that's not surprising, considering the sharp teeth and red eyes. I, again, don't know how this came to be. I'm sorry, but information is limited, and more and more like you are made recently...."

"Jesus." Soul covered his face.

"So what about Maks?" Blackstar asked, nodding at the aforementioned girl.

Kid sighed. "Well, I'm...not sure about her. She's probably a half-angel. It's a strange case..." Kid gave her a look, and she understood. Kid really felt it wasn't his place to tell them. He figured she'd tell them when she was ready. "And that's it."

"This changes..everything." Liz mumbled.

"Yeah, but how freaking cool is it?!" Blackstar laughed. "We kick ass! We're kick-ass hunters and demons and drinking angels!"

"Ooh! Yeah! Kid!" Patty cried in pure excitement, eyes practically glittering. "Can you show us your cool demon form?!"

Kid froze, slowly bringing his hand up to his face. "No."

Patty pouted, but it dropped when Kid looked genuinely upset. Everyone looked in concern.

Maka stepped forward. "Kid-"

He stepped away. "Not today. I'm going to go rest. You should all do the same."

He walked away in a hurry, leaving them all alone with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Od oculos, a capite ad calcem, audeamus habere libra. Ex animo ego te provoco, miserabilis bestia. Ab inferno, de profundus, da fortitudinem ut mihi! Per nomine ex mea dominus, morietur- VERY roughly translates as: 
> 
> From the eyes, from head to heel, let us dare to have balance. From the soul, I challenge you, pitiful beast. From hell, from the depths, bring strength into me! By the name of my Lord, die!
> 
> Woo boy that was an ordeal, huh?


End file.
